King of the Dead: Ivalice edition
by Maimakterion
Summary: Apparently reading the wrong books can get you stuck in a holy war these days. A holy war that may not even involve your world... Rated for violence, profanity and flirtation
1. The birth of a summoner

**Hey all. DoE here, rescuing the old King of the dead from possible deletion now that Kel has left the guild and taken the shared account with him.**

**A little restructure has gone on - particularly most of the intro chapters have been ditched as filler. We've decided to keep Berry's and Gale's intros and post them first up to give you all a little feel of the origins of necromancers in the original story and hopefully explain some things that are a little fourth wall break-y later in the plot.**

**Lastly disclaiming: **_Characters, settings, spells, mystical devices, high technology and a few whole races used in this chapter and those that follow__should be assumed to be the intellectual property of persons not involved in this work, used for purely non-profit, entertainment purposes unless explicitly stated to be the creation of one of this work's authors._

**So with that - the introductory chapter for Berry's character Mille may begin, 'huzzah!'**

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**Oh. My. God.

That damn book will not leave me alone.

Honestly, have you ever had a book follow you around until you finally decided to read the friggin thing?

Well, I have. And it gets kind of annoying after the first seventeen times you see the damn thing around. I told people that I thought a book was following me, and they all just ignored me. I mean, acting crazy and saying random things like "I think a book is following me" is totally normal for me. People expect that kind of shit from me.

Well anyways, my name's Tatiana. I'm twenty-one and that's all you fuckers are getting out of me. Right now, I'm sitting in my old bedroom (staying over at the 'rents house), My four younger siblings are still running around like crazy, chasing each other with play station controllers, and my personal favourite, the lawn mower!

No I'm totally joking, they use chain saws.

Why does everyone always look at me like that?!?!

Again, I'm sitting in my old room and I hope that book is far enough from me. Five minutes later, after drowning out my freaked-out-ness with a REALLY good book (The Adventures of Kel, Blaze and Gale. Seriously this book kicks ass.), the book appeared in my room. I swear my door was locked, though. I always quadruple check my locks to make sure that they are sibling-proof.

Well there it was, sitting at my computer desk, (where I spend most of my time) like it fucking owned the place. It looked really nasty, too. It was big and black and looked really dusty and shit. I should really throw the thing out the window, but I'm scared, 'cause the damn thing is already like a boomerang, what if it comes back and kills me!

I really don't think it's healthy to be cowering in fear from a fuckin book so, out of my twenty-one year old curiosity, I opened it. Ten minutes later, I was pretty far into it (I'm a fast reader). Basically, it was about some dude learning how to use necromancy. Which is summoning dead people.

PRETTY DAMN INTERESTING.

I tried closing the ginormous book, but I almost felt as if I wanted to read it. It took me about another five minutes to step away from the thing. I quickly ran out of my room and into the living room. Not even three feet into the room, a ball came flying towards my face. Luckily, living with two younger brothers and two younger sisters who make a living on trying to kill me with flying objects, I caught it with little effort.

"DAMIEN YOU STUPID LITTLE SHIT! I'M GONNA GET YOU AND YOU KNOW IT!" I yelled, loud enough for all of them to hear, showing them that I was so not in the mood.

"I'm going on a drive. Damien, if I come back and anything in my room is screwed over, you wont live to see breakfast." With that I walked out, leaving them to mess up any other part of the house. I honestly dont know why I got all defensive about my room, it's not like I have anything special in there, I don't even live here anymore.

Well, I got into my car, started up the engine and all that shit, but I couldn't get my mind off of that damn book. My whole drive I didnt have anyting on my mind but that book. I know maybe a little part of me was interested, my gamer-girl, fantasy-lover side, was totally into it. I was so deep in thought, I missed the giant black book slamming onto my front window and rendering me of seeing ahead.

I guess I must've swerved off to the side and hit something because my car rammed into something and the impact was hard. For a minute it felt like the world was just standing still. Then all of the sudden, I could feel myself and my car defying the laws of gravity and flipping upside down. "I HATE YOU! YOU DAMN BOOK!" What wonderful last words, dont you think?

I awoke to feel a giant weight placed on top of me. I really didn't feel like opening my eyes, I'm still a bit flustered from that crash.

Wait, I'm still fucking alive? No one could have survived that. I opened my eyes and it took me a couple of seconds to realise the extra weight was from a guy. His knees were on either side of my waist and he was rubbing me everywhere.

"Hey! Hey! Private property!" I yelled, shoving him off of me. I jumped up, looking around, seeing sand and water around me.

"Great. Just great. I get followed by a book, crash my car, and now I'm stuck on a desert island with some blondie I don't even know." I stomped my feet into the soft sand and the guy just sort of layed there.

"If I'm not mistaking, you have blonde hair, too, master." The guy pointed out. Smart Ass. "And is it that book?" I looked over to where he pointed and almost screamed. There it is again. I swear there is no other feeling like getting followed by a book. It is so annoying.

"Okay, can you tell me how I got here??" I asked, running up to him.

"You summoned us both here, master." He replied.

"Why are you calling me master? My name is Millie." I said, then I stopped myself, realising I said my name was Millie. "No, wait, my name is T-Millie. Tat-Millie. ARRGHH!" Now I cant even say my name. Just fucking great. I stomped around some more and I reminded myself of my younger siblings, so I regained my composure.

"Alright...where are we?" I asked, looking around once more. All I saw was sand. Just sand and water.

"We're in Ivalice." He replied and walked over to me. There was something deathly looking about him. He just seemed like he belonged in a horror flick or something.

"Who are you?" I asked, eyeing him.

"I'm Cloud. Your servant for the next...well...eternity." He said, stepping forward and before I had time to yell "A BEEP ETERNITY?!" he dug his teeth into my neck like some sort of vampire. You know how when you think of the pain, it hurts more? Well I think that pretty much applies here. It was terrible and I couldn't get my mind off of it.

"What the hell?" I yelled, looking at him when he was done, I realised he stayed kind of close, too.

"If I am to protect you I need your blood." He replied simply. He stepped closer and started playing with the edge of my skirt and kissing my neck. I sort of slapped his hand away and walked over to the book, skimming the parts that I didnt finish back home. All of it seemed familiar somehow.

"Necromancy. I am your guardian, and we have to go." Cloud said to me, acting kind of pushy to get away from this God-awful beach, and walked up to me, putting his hand up the back of my shirt. I jumped forward quickly, before he would do anything else. I definitely have some personal space issues to discuss to this guy.

That was all about six months ago. Yes, I've been here on Ivalice for six months and have been perfecting my training. I'm still stuck with blondie, and we've gotten over the sexuality issues. We're just really good friends now. I mostly just been bouncing around waiting for some other sucker to end up in the same situation as me. I just hope that'll be sometime soon.

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**Remember this girly. She starts out as a fledgling, like the rest of us, but when you see her again in 20 chapters you wont believe your eyes.**

**DoE out  
**


	2. A new god of storms

**The second intro chapter comes from a fourth wall-less Galebread, introducing his character, the whisperer of the void.

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**Shit. That's the first thing that came into my mind when Anna, my fellow work buddy slash current girlfriend, told me that the boss wants to see me. I don't understand why though, I didn't do anything wrong, and I got the company a huge client just yesterday, moments after I sat up my workplace to be exact. Maybe I'm getting a promotion for it? Probably not, considering my luck, I'll be getting fired for some weird reason that made no sense at all, or had nothing to do with my work. Still, there isn't much I could do about it. When the boss calls, the boss expects the person to be there.

I was brought out of my musing when I stopped in front of the boss' door. It seemed that my legs had moved me there subconsciously while my mind separates itself into its own world. No matter. I'm going to be going in there anyway. The boss' office door looked absolutely intimidating right now, as if it was towering over me, with the nametag staring down critically with imaginary eyes that appeared out of thin air.

I don't like this, not one bit.

Sighing in defeat, my hands clamped down on the handle as I pushed open the door to the devil's den, sweating in fear and panic. I looked into the dark office and saw a pair of orange shades glint under the sudden light, and the boss sitting in a position that resembles eerily to Gendo Ikari, the commander of NERV in the anime Neon Genesis Evangelion. He smirked in the same eerie manner as he too saw my frightened entrance to his world.

I felt like Shinji Ikari right now, just to get another Evangelion reference in.

Silence filled the space of the dark prison as I closed the door behind me and stood straight before his gigantic, designed oak work desk. This is getting too uncomfortable as I shifted uneasily on the same spot while he kept smirking in that creepy manner. Then, after an eternity he seemed content at my nervousness, and opened his mouth to speak. His voice booming over the vast blackness…

"You're fired."

"Damn it! That's the fifth time this week!"

…And brought the pitch black sky crashing down right on top of me. Quite literally since a panel on the roof just fell short to my right, whoa, what luck…

He shrugged noncommittally as he continued to pose as a Gendo Ikari clone, hell he even had the damned beard to go with it! I absently wonder if he really _is_ a clone of the commander of NERV…

But that's not what I'm onto right now, to hell with the beard; I want my Unit 01 so I can crush him like the bastard he is.

Sadly, this is not Evangelion, and I don't have a giant biomechanical robot that houses the soul of my mother that I can use to kill angels or Gendos depending on my mood.

Oh well…

Speaking of mood, said mood was best described as pissed, to be blunt. I'm so infuriated at the latest information of the sacking of my job that I didn't even bothered to ask why as my hand reached for the handle and prepared to give it a well deserved push and ram my way back into the world with bright light despite the cheep florescent they may be.

"Don't you want to know why?"

…And he just had to bring it up, smugly too, to my eternal irritation. Still, might as well…

"Fine, why am I fired?"

"You stole my girlfriend."

"Who?"

"Anna."

"Somehow I am not surprised."

I slammed the door without waiting for a reply or comeback from the bastard of Hell.

Reaching my station…correction, _ex-_station, I hurriedly packed the stuffs that I just placed on my cramp work desk a day and a half ago. Heaving my duffle bag onto my shoulder, I gave Anna a quick wave and a flash of my trademark smile, then stomped out into the elevator and out of the damned building.

The same thing happened for the past week too, only different names. Claire, Melissa, Jane, Cathy and this time being Anna.

Déjà vu indeed.

I unlocked the front door with my keys and stepped into the house I lived in. It wasn't mine, technically, since my parents are still alive and well, not that it matters, I don't want the house anyway.

Kicking off my shoes and undoing my tie, I stepped into the living room as my father greeted me with his face buried into his newspaper. Typical, though we both knew I'm back. He never took his eyes off the newspaper as he grabbed a pen and wrote something down on a notebook on the table.

"One day, five hours and forty two minutes. A new record, this is the longest time you've stayed at a single job. Keep up the good work son."

"Sure, sure, whatever…"

I locked the door behind me and went into my room, locked that door too and slumped face first onto my bed. Typical benter too, it has gone on for awhile, and dad no longer cared if I lose my job anymore. Heck, we even had a notebook to drop down the duration of my current job and those next in line, right there on the table in the living room where my father just wrote in a few moments ago. Bastard, he's probably gloating right now since he won his bet against my mom. Who cares about a fifty dollar note anyway?

I probably do, but that's different.

As I brood again, a frequent thing that I do these days, I reached for my Ipod. No, I don't use a S-DAT like Shinji, he's a wimp and he had a fucked up life, I don't, so I'm not impersonating him.

Clicking a few buttons, my favourite collection of songs filled my ears, the first being Through the Fire and Flame by **DragonForce**. That's probably my favourite, followed by Hitomi no Tsubasa by the Japanese band **Access** and Ash like Snow by another Japanese band **The Brilliant Green**, the former's the third opening song for the anime Code Geass while the latter one's the second opening song for the anime Gundam00, just to make it clear. All these songs are absolutely magnificent, and I will forever hate anyone who doesn't like them.

Ah, my apologies, I haven't introduced myself yet have I? I'm Gale, Gale Seraph Angelos. Gay last and middle name, I know, but as long as no one pokes fun at them I'm fine with it. I had been described as bordering on looking like a girl, with my mid-length light brown hair, emerald green eyes and a rather feminine face. But it has its advantages, as I had also been nominated as the most attractive looking guy for every year in every school and in university. Such popularity within the female ring was a rare treat only to those who had caught the attention of the majority, and my looks had been one of the largest factors that placed me within that privileged circle of being a celebrity.

Grabbing a random book out of the bookshelf because I had way too much time before dinner, I started flipping the small black book. The word _Necromancy_ was the first word that came into view as the book then starts on describing different aspects of necromancy and the history behind it. I don't remember buying this book though. But who knows, I had probably picked it out of the shop just because I can poke fun at the stuffs in there. It's fun sometimes, and it helps release stress.

Flipping and reading a bit more of the weird black book, I began to become more intrigued by the words in there. It describes the forbidden art in a manner that explains clearly yet still eludes me in general, that I had lost track of time as I delved into the hidden knowledge the book provided me. I couldn't remember how long it had been, nor do I care since I don't have a job to mind about anymore. Not that I would've care even IF I still had my job, this is just too alluring to drop. My eyes dashed across the pages as information poured into my memory back like a massive flood, unwilling to move away from the black tome infront of me. Yet I'm still human, and before long my reticules started screaming in protest, then that little mob spread through my whole body like a wild fire and I found myself plunging into a deep slumber. I was only able to catch a glimpse at the words on the top of the current page before sleep claimed me, though those would be one of the most important things that came into my life that had forever changed from this moment onwards.

Those words were the starting lines in the description of Curses.

_A curse is the effective action of some power, distinguished solely by the quality of __adversity_ that it brings. A curse may also be said to result from a _spell_ or _prayer_, imprecation or execration, or other imposition by _magic_ or _witchcraft_, asking that a _god_, natural force, or _spirit_ bring misfortune to someone.

_The forms of curses found in various cultures comprise a significant proportion of the study of both __folk religion_ and _folklore_…

"_Monster!"_

"_You…you murderer!"_

"Murderer?! I only did what you've asked me to do! I have done no murder!"

"_Kill him! Kill that spawn of evil!"_

"What?! You…TRAITOR!"

"Why…? Why is this happening Master? Am I at fault?"

"_No, the fault is mine and mine alone. I should never have trusted that man…"_

"_I'm sorry…Master!"_

"Nay, save thy apology, you have done none that required one."

"_Master…"_

"_Hush…we'll be leaving. There is nothing left here for us."_

"…_Yes Master."_

"Hn…go…away…you're blocking…my…sunlight…"

As I mumbled quietly in my light sleep, I felt a hand stroke away a few strands of hair away from my face. I tried batting it away with a half-hearted attempt, but failed as I continue to snooze the time away. The hand kept playing with my hair, and after awhile, I no longer cared since it actually feels quite good. It doesn't matter that it feels like the hands of a female. It doesn't matter that my door's locked. It doesn't mat-

…

Wait a minute…lets recap a bit shall we? I felt the hands of a female stroking my hair, and my door's locked while I'm sure I'm the only one inside my room.

Plus, I don't remember laying my head on something that felt like skin, soft and bouncy skin…skin that felt as if I'm sleeping on someone's…

…someone's…someone's

…

…

…

_**WHAT THE FUCK?!?!**_

Immediately my eyes shot open and lo and behold, two meaty hills hang right above my face while I found myself using said hills' owner's lap as a pillow. I still couldn't quite see the owner of the proud pair of mountain's face, but that will be the next thing in my chain of thoughts and reactions. The first thing that instinct instructed me to do was to spring up with a yelp, though a smaller part of it that I didn't take notice of until my body complied with the larger part told me otherwise. Now that I thought back about it, I should've listened to the smaller part and instead raise my hands to check out the 'assets'. A shame really, but oh well…

"HOLY SHIT!! What the hell?!" I leapt off the bench that I was laying on and stared at the one who owned the Twin Mountains. Absently I noticed that I was no longer in my room but in a city of sort, but that part of my thoughts were thrown into the dustbin and lining up for the afterburners as my mind forcefully focused it's energy into the sight function of my body. Infront of me was a semi-naked female with long, golden blond hair and clear, aqua-coloured eyes with a pair of silver spectacles perched right above her nose. She was smiling affectionately at someone, who I realize was me after I looked around for another person, and had a rather pale skin colour, almost like an albino, but those things weren't what caught my attention either.

I, like so many other males in the universe, noticed firstly of her state of undress. While not totally naked, which would be even more awesome than it was now, she was almost there. Donned only in a bra two size too small for her and her clothes hanging loosely down her waist, with her skirt, socks and high-heel boots (Coincidentally, they're all black) laying on the cold, hard floor next to her long, silky legs, she could pass off as a porn star and no one will argue about it. Hell, I felt like I'm in a damn porno right now.

But first thing's first. There're questions to be answered, like who she is, where we are, and what the hell happened to my clothes.

"Who the hel-…"

WAIT! Remember that she's a lady, Gale, quite a lovely one too, so mind you manners.

"My sincerest apologies. May I humbly ask as to who this lovely young lady that had so kindly grace her presence to me may be?"

And then she giggled. Oh what beautiful sound she had, it is like that of a Siren, whose voice traps those who heard them to be their slaves for eternity. Am I in heaven? If I am, then I thank you, God. Please accept my apology for the countless jokes I've based on upon you.

"Oh my, such sweet tongue my Master has." And there she giggled again!

And did I heard clear? She, that most divine angel, calling me, a humble human, 'Master'? Oh such joy had come into my life! It is as if Christmas and my birthday had combined and I had received the greatest present ever bestowed upon a man. I thank thee, God! Please accept my apology for the limitless sexual innuendos I've used against you and your son! I shall do so with honour from now on! In thy name!

"I am aware that you might have many questions. But firstly, I am Quistis, your eternal servant, and an Immortal. I have been summoned by you, Master, and we are transported to the world of Ivalice, in the city of Arcadia, if I am not mistaken."

"Quistis, Quistis, Quistis. Such an elegant and exotic name, fitting for such a marvellous beauty that you are. Wherever this Arcadia may be, or what this world may be called, I only know that I had arrived in the Promised Land."

"My, such sugary words. I may need to sign up for a dentist."

"Then I shall pay for every dentist you visit, my fair lady."

"Would you be willing to pay in blood then? I will need them every three days in order to survive."

"Anything for you, my princess."

And with quick movements I found I had rolled the sleeves of my right arm up and held the arm up horizontally. I smiled brightly, and I could feel myself emitting a brilliant light as my words filled with power and conviction. I had never felt so brave and lively until now. Praises to the Lord.

"I shall be your knight, and sacrifice my own flesh and blood to please and protect you, my lovely maiden."

She smiled, and leaned in as she took hold of my arm and bite lightly through my skin, taking away that precious liquid she needs to continue her existence…

_For half a year Quistis and I had travelled through Ivalice. At first when I heard that I had become a Necromancer and was going to be hunted, I'm a little bit pissed. But then I got used to this sort of life, and had successfully run away from a few Exorcists from the organization Holy Mother. Things had been pretty decent as I learned more and more on how to become a full fledged Necromancer from Quistis. She had a surprisingly large amount of knowledge in regards to Necromancy, and had been a very good teacher. As strange as it might sound like, our relationship had been a platonic one, but I think that would change as more time passes. Holy Mother aren't the only threats we faced in our journey though, as I found the existence of Necromancers other than me. Those Necromancers are a nuisance to be truthful, being all 'macho' about the whole thing and trying to best each other in every field of Necromancy. And although I had almost died a few times under some of them, in the end they only made me stronger. I wonder where this wandering will lead me, but I'm sure I will find my destiny, and a harem if I can. Hmm…best start working on the harem…_

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**Just like the previous, this guy will show up again later and better experienced in his arts. And more lecherous now i think of it.**

**DoE out  
**


	3. The sword singer

**Now we're on to the introductions of those who've got their own plot arcs, yay!**

**Icarax's character ... Icarax ... has some trouble with the fact of his youth in this chapter.

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**Well, This sucks. Was it truly worth killing that stupid grown-up for this? I sighed and sank down against the wall, taking a better look at this black book thing.

I'm a murderer. Eighteen years old and already a killer in heart and soul. It's what you become when you're raised like I was. They say you need to raise children with love. Guess my parents never heard that. My mother was a prostitute and my father a killer. Getting beaten by them was a daily event. Well, until I had enough of that, of course. One day when mommy dearest found another reason to beat the crap out of me, my innocent hand found a knife. Next moment, she laid on the ground, with a red spot on her stomach that grew bigger and bigger every second. Daddy thought there wasn't enough noise in the room so he came to see if everything was alright. And the next moment he laid on the floor next to her.

Maybe that's were I got addicted to killing, I'm not really sure. Anyway, when you kill your own parents, people will naturally ask questions and when they find out the truth, come after you. Trying to escape the law is fun, but I was still quite the amateur. So I ended up caught in the end (after stabbing some more here and some more there). And thrown in jail for psychos.

Yes, life sucks. A healthy, perfectly sane and strong-willed young man in the bloom of his life left to rot in jail. Not really my idea of fun. So after four years I managed to escape. Unfortunately for me I couldn't leave that old habit of me (you know, stabbing people to death) behind me. And I already had the law at my heels.

Once you're on the dark path you can't leave it anymore. It's terrible what I find so fun, I know, but my mind is dead already, so I can't really care anymore. Just now I killed somebody again, and I feel not even the slightest amount of regret. The motive for killing? He carried this shiny black book and I felt strangely drawn towards it. I wanted it, took it but he just had to object. And I have an unhealthy amount of hatred against anybody who's older than me. It's his own damn fault, he just should have left me take that beautiful looking book.

I opened this strange thing I had just taken another life for, still having blood of my last victim on my hands. Sickening. My eyes scanned the first page. First thing my brain registered was the word "Necromancy".

I guess this book wasn't healthy for me. As soon as I started reading, I couldn't stop anymore. Very addicting, it was. But reading it did something to me, I could feel it. Like reading this was slowly draining every emotion out of my tainted and twisted mind. Reading all about this necromancy, made me feel strangely pleased and at ease. I kept reading, forgetting the time. I kept reading even when my eyes were almost too heavy to keep open. I had to keep reading, had to, keep reading.

Slowly I became aware of things again. I must have fallen asleep, I realised. My eyes opened quickly. My surroundings were not familiar at all. Apparently I was in a desert, my body laying on the sand in the shadows of some trees. Behind me, there was an oasis, no, a river. I sat up and noticed I had different clothing. I was wearing white boots, white long pants, white gloves and a white sleeveless shirt. A black scarf was tied around my neck and some black belts were wrapped around my arms and I had some around my waist as well. Interesting, I thought emotionlessly.

As I prepared to stand up, I caught a slight movement. I turned to look, my black hair, that reached to my hips, waving slightly as I did so. There was an unfamiliar girl behind me. She had green hair, blood red eyes and wore some peculiar black clothing. Her fingers each ended with a sharp black claw.

Handy for killing, I thought instinctively. My facial expression did not change as I looked at her a bit better, finally recognizing were I had seen her before. Her outfit was different, but that green hair There was no mistake, this was Rydia, from Final Fantasy IV.

Upon seeing me awake, the odd girl that shouldn't even exist ran towards me and dropped on her knees next to me, her face beaming with happiness. "I see Master has awakened." She smiled happily, touching my right cheek with her soft hands. Again, my expression did not change. I noticed she had three odd, dark blue marks on her right cheek, that looked somewhat like claw-slashes. I became slightly intrigued by those. Just slightly. Rydia didn't seem to notice, she was staring at something on my cheek herself. "Master has those strange marks on his cheek just like I do." I heard her mutter softly. I turned my head to look at her, allowing my eyes to betray a slight hint of curiosity. But my facial expression did not change, and I doubted it would ever.

Rydia looked in my sky blue eyes for a small while, then answered my unvoiced question. "I am Rydia, your eternal slave, my Master." She answered, still smiling. â€œYou found and read the Necromancer manual and in doing so, you became a Necromancer and brought yourself here in Ivalice while summoning me.â€

I blinked ever so slightly, then stood up, not saying a word. I began to walk away in the desert, not really caring where I went. "Master, wait!" Rydia yelped, running after me. I stopped, but did not turn. If she was indeed my slave like she claimed, if I was a Necromancer like she said, then this could be interesting. Strange. Normally, a plain perfectly sane kid from the normal world would feel excited or frightened when he's suddenly dropped in a new world, with a girl claiming to be his slave at his side. Yet I felt neither of those. I felt no emotion at all.

"There are still some things you should know master! Aren't you curious about them? Your reaction to everything here is very strange." My green-haired slave said behind me, her voice worried. I looked over my shoulder to her, not uttering a word. But the look in my eyes told her I wanted her to explain.

"Like I said, Master, I'm your eternal slave and your protector. However, I will need some of your blood every now and then, unless you want me to become a corpse."

Finally I did something that at least could count as a sign of acknowledgement. I nodded briefly, in absolute silence. Rydia smiled at this slight sign. I turned my head away from her and waited. But she did nothing, so I glared at her and finally spoke, still having not the slightest form of emotion on my face or in my voice.

"What are you waiting for?" I stated slowly. I wasn't sounding unfriendly, just emotionless. Rydia finally caught my intention and moved closer to me. She bit in my neck and I felt her sucking some blood. I felt no pain, no emotion. I made no sound. For a moment, I realised what a bore I am for others, but I did not care. I felt no emotion. So I did not care. After having her fill of my blood, she licked the blood that still dripped out of the wound in my neck and then released her hold of me. She stood before me again, grateful.

Not saying a word again, I turned away from her and began walking away. Rydia hurried to catch up. "Master, wait, where are you going?!" Finally feeling something, namely annoyance, I stopped again and gave her a sharp look.

"Somewhere where I can kill somebody or something." I stated matter-of-factly. She gave me a confused look. "Do I need to explain everything to you?" I accused with my emotionless voice. "I feel no emotion, only the desire to kill. Now that I have become somebody else entirely, I shall not rest until I go down in history as the murderer with the greatest bounty ever on his head and the largest number of victims ever." Having to speak so much was terrible! I glanced at her claws.

"Do you know how to kill with those?" I asked emotionlessly. Bewildered, my slave looked at her claws. "I-I think so, Master." Good enough for an answer, I decided. Besides, killing was something that could be learned and I had some experience in it at least. But now, being a murderer could be so much more interesting because of the countless ways I could do it now. "Master" Rydia said again. Now I was irritated and I came to a halt yet again. "What. Is. It?" I asked, my voice colder than ever. Rydia just smiled and pushed the Necromancer manual in my hands.

"Your goal in life is not up to me to judge, but I think you'll be able to use this, Master." I accepted the book, looked from it to Rydia then nodded slightly, as a way to show my gratitude. Then I turned and walked away, deciding that no matter what, I wouldn't stop walking this time! Luckily, Rydia didn't say another word and she began to follow me in silence.

"I sure have a strange Master." Rydia thought. "He's cold, anti-social, barely speaks and seems bloodthirsty." She laid her eyes on my back as we marched through the desert. "Yet I feel no hostility from my Master towards me, He seems to have no desire to kill me, or at least try to" She smiled.

"Rydia." My voice pulled her from her thoughts. She looked towards me, slightly taken back. I had said her name! She almost wanted to jump on me now in pure happiness, but she knew that wouldnâ€™t be the wisest move. So instead she said respectfully: "Yes? What is it, Master?"

"Night has fallen and I feel no desire to keep walking at night." I said, still with that emotionless voice. "Make a campfire. We'll rest here for the night."

"Yes, Master." She obeyed and started doing as I had commanded.

"It doesn't really matter what he is like or what others will think of him though." Rydia thought later when she was watching me read the Necromancer Manual in the light of the campfire. "I like him very much, he's the most interesting Master ever!"

"Rydia."

She snapped out of her thoughts and looked at me with sparkling eyes. This was the second time today I had said her name! "Yes, Master?"

"Where can I find the one who wrote this manual?" I asked coldly. "The language and words he uses are utterly stupid and offending. I wish to kill him." Rydia couldn't help herself but laugh at that. My attitude was just so awesome and adorable in her eyes. She couldn't stop herself and jumped towards me, throwing me on my back as she hugged me. A low growl escaped my lips. "Enough of that, Rydia! Stop it!"

* * *

**Although Icarax has his own arc, it doesn't start until later in the story, so you get stuck with meeting the new locals for a chapter or two more just yet**

**DoE  
**


	4. Lord of the nothing

**LordShadowDragon comes next with his character Shadow (oh yea originality!)

* * *

**One year ago

"My life bloody sucks..." I said to myself as I slumped on my couch. I just home from work... my last day as I am officially fired... But thats only half of why my life sucks, soon I'll have to move because I'm not aloud to live in my house anymore, and I have almost no money...

So there I was... Poor old Matt... Poor old Matty Hart... Crushed is how I felt, my very soul crushed into a thousand bits. I have no future, no plan, no path to follow. I don't know how long I sat there for, drowning in my own self pity. But when hunger got me to move I noticed the afternoon had slipped away and late night had come.

After having a quick meal of instant paster, not noddles they taste like crap, I changed into my boxer shorts and old shirt and throw myself into bed. I laid there and enjoyed the embrace of the dark. The peaceful dark where you are not judged or expected of. "Sleep my master," I thought I heard as I drifted off, "Sleep, all will be well soon,"

-You will carry on my work and finish what we started-

I was standing on a lone hill. The grass under me was blood red and the cloudless sky was a off green. All around me, as far as the eye could see, was empty grassland

-You will ascend into greatness once again-

Said the silent voice once again. I couldn't hear anyone speak, or maybe there isn't. The words seem more like a memory more then anything.

-She will protect and guide you, for the price of blood-

I turned around to find I was looking a the back of some woman's head. Her long black hair covered most of her back. The only thing she seemed to be wearing were black mini shorts. Her skin was slightly tanned and looked so smooth. The green light from the sun on her only made her seem more mystical and alluring. I had to force myself from wrapping my arms around her. Every inch of my body what to take her right there and then, like a staving man who was just placed in front of a pile of food. And she knew what I wanted as well because she just laughed softly and said, "I've wanted you for a long time too master,"

She then made to turn around but suddenly vanished leaving me alone again.

-Our Rinoa has always been faithful to us... do not miss use her-

"What... What so I have to do to be with her?!" I yelled out into the sky. I don't know why, I wasn't in control of myself anymore. Didn't mean I didn't want to know.

-It has already been set into motion...-

From the ground all around me I could see hands burst out of the ground. It was like a wave that spread out from the hell.. Each one roted to a certain degree or completely bone. Once they pulled themselves out of the ground they started to line up in groups. I knew what I was seeing. A vast army of the dead was lined up at the foot of the hell, all around me. They filled the plain with their numbers all of them down on one knee with their heads down.

-You have already began to rise-

I woke to find that my blankets had been thrown to one side and I was only laying on one half on the bed, yet could feel the whole bed was warm. It confused me a little but not as much as that dream. The voice, the army, the sense of belonging, and most important... the woman... When I went to get out of bed I found two things at once. My neck hurt like hell and that my pillow stuck to me. "Why was I bleeding?" I asked myself as I looked down at the stain. 'Thats what happens when you get bitten...'

... ... "What the hell am I thinking?" I jumped out of bed and raced to the bathroom to look in the mirror. Sure enough, there was a human bite mark under the washed off blood. "For the price of blood..." I turned around and walked out slowly. I looked around corners before I walked into room. Even though I felt stupid for it, I told myself, forced myself, to do it. After checking the whole house I walked into the kitchen to fix some breakfast. I felt disappointed I didn't find anyone.

"That's a good thing..." I said as I eat some coca pops, "...that's a good thing..."

Silence followed as I munched away. Silence was almost a trade mark for me. I've known for months only for them to one day ask what my voice sounded like, or for me to say something. I liked silence, it was calming and peaceful all at the same time. But I also found it can slowly drive you insane. I was wondering what I should do today now that I didn't have to work. But the thought of not having work just brought back the painful reality that I was doomed. With a cry of despair I slumped forward on the table, only to have my head hit a large black book.

-Rise...-

I lifted my head and slow pick up the book. It was about the width, hight and breadth of a phone book. The cover was black leather with 'Necromancer' written in large gold letters. Under that was my personal symbol, an oval with a gap on the right side and two other lines going from lift to right at 45 angle. The first line started at the bottom end of the oval, the other on the lift point heading in the same direction.

-Rise-

All this shocked me. Shocked me to no end. "All your power, all your knowledge is contained in that one book," Came a soft sweet voice. I looked up and over to see a woman standing in the door way to my lounge room.

"It's... you..." I mumbled as I got up from my chair, "from my dream... Rinoa," Rinoa was still dressed like before, but she had a blood red bikini on. And her eye, they seemed to almost glow red.

"I am here to serve you, my Master," She said in her soft voice as she slowly walked over to me and placed her hand on my shoulders.

"Serve me?" I asked. I was really lost for word as I looked into her eyes. Those red eyes. So different, so beautiful, so... familiar. Rinoa smiled at me and step closer and wrapped her arms around me. I didn't move, I didn't feel I needed too. I just let the momentum carry us and let us both fall backward. We didn't hit the floor, no. We pasted through it and continued to fall through into the dark obese of nothingness.

-Rise! Take your place and continue YOUR legacy. Rise like you have done so many times-

As I fell my only thought was on the fact I missed the feeling of being held by Rinoa.

-You are now Shadow-

3 months ago

I stood in the darkened room with only one torch light behind me to brighten the room. I could make out every detail in the room even in the dark. The walls were plane stone, a plane large metal door in the far wall, the unlit wood torches periodically placed on the walls. On the roof and on the floor were runes and symbols carved into the stone, and just in fount of me flouted a book. My book, my Necromancer manual, my memories, my past and my future. All embodied in one simple book. Every page was written by me, every word placed by me, all my knowledge and ideals on each page is mine. I've known other Necromancers have been killed for their knowledge. Indeed, it is the fastest and 'easiest', if you call killing a Necromancer easy, way to increase the speed of your own work. I've even killed a few who tried to get at my own work. Fools they were, didn't even have the skill to understand their own let alone comprehend the depth of understanding held within those pages.

But as it may they still tried and now are trapped forever in my serves. Trapped alone with so many others who wished to gain everything for nothing. Sold their very souls to me to gain power, wealth, knowledge, fame, and everything else a lowly human might want. Even though I did not grant them what they wanted, I did free them from the mortal coil. They all no longer want for anything, they are all immortal to an extant and they all have a purpose in their... un-life.

Knock, knock, knock echoed through the stone room as someone tapped on the metal door. I knew who is was without even asking or seeing. Only one person in the whole underground complex moves around without orders or being summoned. "Come in..." I said without looking up from the page I was reading. The page was about the energies of the soul I had discovered in an 'other' life of mine. The door slowly slid open enough to pop your head through, which is what happened.

"Am I disturbing you master?" Asked Rinoa as she looked at me peaking into the room. I was wearing a black hood jacket that reached down to my feet and was buttoned up along my chest, with long sleeves. I also had long black baggy pants on with black boots. My hands were covers by black cloth gloves. And if you were to see up my sleeves you'd see them wrapped up in black ribbons. I also wore black shades when I went outside.

"Not at all," I replied flipping the page over then writing down some information on a blank parchment flouting near by, "What can I do for you?"

"Umm, nothing," She said slipping into the room and skipping over to me so she was behind me. She in the very same way as when I first saw her again at the beginning of all this. Only now, around her legs and arms were blood red cloth. "I was just feeling a little lonely," she continued as she wrapped her arms around my neck and rested on my back. I acted like I didn't notice and continued to work but I couldn't help but smile. We both stayed like that for some time. Every now and then I would change page or write something down, or Rinoa would look over my shoulder to see what I was doing. But we didn't say anything, we didn't need to.

"Hmm," I finally said after I hadn't moved for a few minutes.

"What is it master?" Rinoa asked looking at me all curious like.

"I think I know how I might get it to work now,"

"I knew you could," She then proceeded to hug me tight before asking, "Ahh, what did ya do?"

I gave a soft sigh, "I think I might know how to blend two souls together and create a stronger soul servant. This could revolutionize the way Necromancers do things, if it work and IF I let the knowledge out."

I explained as I pulled her off me and closed my book. I then walked over to the door and waited for Rinoa to walk out. Together we walked down the many different hallways of my home. This wasn't a small underground place with only a few room. It was more like a castle with a hundred room, the whole place built like a maze to confuse any intruders, and this was only the lower section. If you truly wanted to get at me there was a whole three levels inside a mountain you had 'adventure' through. You see, the local legend was, 'if you could fight your way through the underground maze and confront the Lord of the Under Dead and show your might, he will great you a wish'. So I don't really hunt for people, they come to me and only the strongest make it.

After a few minutes walking we entered a larger room then I was in before. This room was full of tables with laboratory equipment and along the walls were racks of surgical and laboratory tools. This is where I experimented. Well not me, my scientist minions do. Speaking of which

"How can I help you my master?" I asked a hunched looking man. He was bold and was wearing a ragged old lab coat. The rest of his cloths where ragged and faded as well.

"Here is the next experiment Doctor Fantrack," I gave the man the sheets of paper I had been writing on. It contained all the notes and instructions needed.

"Of course Master," The Doc said grabbing the papers and quickly scanning them before he stated to cackle madly,

"Finally something to really challenge me... Not that my Master gives me unimportant work, n...no, no," Fantrack was free of my control. He had to be if I wanted to use his genius mind. We came to an agreement of sorts. He serves me to his fullest and I let him experiment with no rules to his hearts content. He is a truly a mad man. I also threaten him with ever lasting pain if he disobeys... keeps him in the right mind track.

"Stop sucking up and get to work," I commanded ion a harsh voice.

"Yeah, you don't want to end up like the others," Rinoa added as she held onto my arm.

"Yes Master," The Doc bowed once more before going to work. I stood and watched him for a bit and Rinoa felt content to just kiss the side of my head and neck. I had and alright life I guess. After a Necromancer can get out of the sight of the accursed HOLY MOTHER and be powerful enough that the other Necromancer fools leave you alone, you are free to do what you want. Of course few take my path. Most just wonder the world looking for their place, never understanding that there is not really a place for ones such as us. No, we have to carve it out for ourselves.

After a little bit a servant soul rose out of the stone floor and whispered into my ear. With a long sigh I turned to look at Rinoa and kissed her before saying, "Back to work, it would seem,"

We were both, once again, walking through the underground complex only this time we entered into a throne room. My throne room I guess. Not that I did much ruling from here. The walls had red cloth draped over the walls and in the middle of the room was a large pit with a fire raging lighting the room. The roof way above us couldn't be seen through the darkness. I went and sat down on the large stone throne and Rinoa sat on my lap. Not far away I could hear fighting, a few adventures are just smashing their way past my last few guards. After the battle ended the two large metal doors swung open allowing the group of four into the room.

"I think we made it," Said a female as she scanned the room stopping on me.

"Yeah," Agreed the three males. They where all dressed in silver armour that only covered the legs and chest. The three Males also carried swords and the female handgun.

"Welcome o brave four," I said not getting up, "What can I do for ya today?"

"Are you the Lord of the Under Dead?" One of the guys asked walking around the fire pit with the others in tow.

"I guess I am," I was sounding bored... Well I was bored, it's just all the same from here...

"You will grant us our..."

"Yes, yes, one wish, blab, blab, blab, blab. Get on with it..."

"What should we wish for?" Asked the female looking to the other three.

"What?!" Rinoa blurted out standing up, "You come all this way here and you don't know what to wish for? Master, we should just kill them now and not later,"

I slapped myself on the forehead just then. Rinoa immediately realized her mistake and started to laugh while giving me a sorry look.

"You're going to do what?" Yelled one of them.

"Yeah, kill ya," I got off the throne and slowly walked toward them,

"You really didn't think you were the first to get this far?"

"Well, we just thought..."

"Well you thought wrong... time to die," I then quickly lifted one arm into the air. Shooting out of the stone were skeleton hands. Two of the guys and the girl jumped out of the ways, only one was caught. He tried to brake free but the hands held fast. "Torn! Look out!" Yelled one of them making him look up in time to see Rinoa appear in front of him and grab his head. With a quick twist a snap sounded out and Torn fell limp.

Meanwhile I was running, flanking them by moving around the other side of the pit. But I didn't move fast enough to stop them from attacking Rinoa. The two guys charged forward swing madly at her in their rage. And each swing missed as she dodge with speed and by being flexible. The woman noticed me closing in on her and took aim. Just as she was about to fire I leaped into the air trusting my arms forward sending bone spikes at her.

She rolled out of the way and manged to fire a shot at me before I slammed into her stabbing she in the stomach and neck. I stood up to find the other three looking at me, Rinoa smiling and the two guys looking shocked and enraged. 'Hmm, no fear...' I thought raising one hand and jerked my fingers toward me. With roars of pure rage they both charged at me sword held high. As they closed and swung down I held up two bone daggers blocking the attacks and quickly moved in between them stabbing behind me. Nobody moved as if frozen in time, then both men fell dead at the same time. I smiled to myself, although I easily won it was still a change of pace to all the talking I would have done before.

I turned around to see my slave looking down at the woman. "Is she still alive?" I asked slowly walking toward them.

"I can soon change that," Rinoa replied reaching down to brake her neck.

"Stop." I commanded which made Rinoa look at me unset for a moment before stepping back. It had been a long time since I commanded her to do anything.

"Hello dear..." I said as I arrived at the wounded woman, "I will save your life and give you immortality if you swear allegiance to me,"

"N... ev...er... never!" He coughed spraying blood on the lower part of my jacket.

"Then die," Rinoa stepping forward but I stopped her by holding up my arm.

"Serve me well and I will bring your friends back and release you all..." I offered her, "Only if you serve... Or go to the cold lonely place of the after life."

I could she in her eyes she was considering it. I was offering to give her immortality and bringing her friends back, who would throw that away just for 'honor'... as if that really matters in the end. No one will remember you for it. Not here.

After a little bit she nodded in a agreement. "Good," I said, "Now what is your name?"

"N... Nadia... m...m..my... lord..."

"Nadia," I said as a bone dagger fell out of my sleeve into my hand I then continued as I stabbed down, "Welcome to the my flock."

_That was only three months ago... so much can change in three months. I thought I had lost already. HOLY MOTHER defeated me once and forced me into hiding. I didn't know someone could rip your heart out and still leave you alive to feel never ending pain... if only I had known three months ago...

* * *

_

**Shadow's character arc is spread over quite a lot of the main plot's timeline so expect this guy to pop up from time to time.**

**DoE out  
**


	5. Remnant of lost glory

**Here we go! The first chapter introducing a character central to the main plot! AND, as one of a previous generation of necromancers Reaper's past is shrouded in mystery! We don't even get to see him as an Earth human**.

* * *

I walked through the door and headed towards the bedroom. "Aeris!" I called out as I opened the door to the bedroom.I walked over to the bed and pulled out my bag from underneath it. "Aeris, where are you?"I opened the bag and went towards the wardrobe. "You called Jamie." She said walking out of the bathroom in only a towel.

"Yeah." I said looking towards her.

I turned back towards the wardrobe and carried on shoving clothes into my bag. "Let me guess. We have a target." She said walking back into the bathroom.

"Yeah, how did you know?" I asked not even realising that she had left the room.

"Well how about because I was naked and you didn't even notice." She said through the door.

I had finished packing and was checking over my guns when she walked back into the room. She was dressed in all black and had her hair tied up into a ponytail.

"So who is the mark?" she said pulling her already packed bag out from under the bed.

"She is another Necromancer, goes by the name of Kaylee. She's new to the game, has a lot of power but doesn't fully understand it. She is considered dangerous and we are to take her out from a distance if possible."

"Where is she and what about the person she travels with?"

"She's at the Phon coast and he is more powerful than your average slave. He is surprisingly good at magic."

"It doesn't sound like she's dangerous."

"Don't mean she's not evil, they know the deal, we only go after the evil ones."

"It bothers me that they say to kill her from a distance. Jamie, do you think they are setting us up."

"No, but I don't think they are playing by the rules."

"Why?"

"They have marked her as a priority target."

"That is the fast time they have done that. How much are we talking about?"

"150,000 gil, and yes it is the first time."

"What are we going to do? That is a lot of money."

"I've already taken the job, but we will confront her, we'll not take her out from a far. I want to do this face to face. I think I'll take my pistols, katana, and my spear."

"You're taking a lot of weapons."

"Yeah, you should to Aeris, I have a really bad feeling and I'm never wrong with these feelings."

**

* * *

  
(2 days later)**

We were walking through the Salikawood after getting a skyferry to Nalbina and getting a chocobo across the Mosphoran highwaste. We decided to do this job quickly, we know quite a lot about the mission, about where the target is heading but we knew very little about the target herself. That made me very worried, not about the target but about Holy Mother. I guess I should explain the situation. When I first appeared on Ivalice Aeris and I were attacked by the Holy Mothers and we were able to kill the person they sent but no matter where we went they just kept sending more. The more people they sent the more we killed. It never got easier and one day they sent 5 after us at once. We were able to hold them off until their leader joined the battle. Once he started to fight it took them less than a minute to defeat us, but they didn't kill us. They realised what we were capable of and decided to recruit us. The deal was that they sent us a target and we went out and killed them. I accepted their offer but I imposed two rules on them:

1 – They are only to send me targets that are using their powers for evil.

2 – They are not to get involved, once they send me the info of the target they are to back off and let me do the job.

So far they have stuck to the rules but I know that one day they will break them and I will be the enemy again, and I just feel very suspicious of this job. Nothing will probable happen, it's not the first time and will not be the last but the sooner this is over the better.

We were walking past the bit where you fight the king bomb in the game when Aeris stopped walking and just listened. I stopped and listened too and I heard footsteps. "Could be a fiend." Aeris said quietly as I put my head to the floor.

"No, there are two of them and they are not walking the way most fiends do." I said standing up and pulling out my katana.

Aeris pulled out a metal staff and we both took cover. The footsteps were getting closer and we could see shadows walking through the mist right towards us.

As they got closer I noticed that the man whose name we were told was Auron walking in front of a girl I noticed to be the target, Kaylee. "Kaylee we have company." He said moving into a fighting stance.

"Very perceptive of you." I said walking out from behind the log I was using for cover.

Aeris walked out as well and stood beside me. "Is she the one?" she asked.

"Yes, but she looks like just a kid, she can't be older than 15." I said looking her up and down.

"Oh man, not another Necromancer. I suppose you want your slave to fight mine." Kaylee said like she was getting bored.

"Don't worry master, I'm up for the challenge." Auron said just before casting a fire spell at Aeris.

"Now that's not very nice." Aeris said as the fire hit her shield.

"Well I wasn't planning on using my partner to fight you but if you insist." I said stepping back.

"That's weird, everybody I've met calls their slave exactly that, but you refer to her as your partner, why?" Kaylee said walking forward.

"Because she is my partner and not my slave, and even if I thought of her as my slave she would beat the shit out of me with her stick if I ever called her that." I said smiling.

"So you didn't come for a slave fight."

"Death step." I said disappearing from where I was and reappearing just behind Kaylee. "No, we came for you."

With that I swung my sword sideways right towards Kaylee. She dived forward when she heard me talk and was able to just miss my swing. She got back up off of the floor and looked right towards me. I swung my sword downwards but just before it hit her a sword appeared out of nowhere and blocked my attack.

"If you want to kill Kaylee then you have to go through me." Auron said from the side.

I looked at him with a bored look on my face and shoved my hand into his stomach sending him flying across the clearing right at Aeris' feet. "Please take care of him." I said to Aeris before turning my attention back toward Kaylee.I walked toward Kaylee who had backed away from me by a good 15 feet. She had her eyes closed and was just standing there. _Humph, she is nowhere near as dangerous as they said she was. She is just a scared child. Why doesn't she even bother to defend herself?_ As I thought that Kaylee started to glow with a black aura around her and climbing out of the ground right in front of him were 15 zombies. I ran towards them and before they could even attack I spun around and slashed them all in half. They all disappeared in a puff of black smoke which got absorbed back into the ground.

"Nice try." I said. "But that attack of mine never fails. Do you like it? I call it Zanmato."

"Kaylee."

We both looked towards her slave when he called her name. He threw her a long thick sword. It looked a lot like the buster sword but it was a little bit smaller and thinner. She caught it with ease and turned to face me. _Humph, I guess she ain't a scared little kid. How heavy is that sword? Must be at least 100 kilos and she is holding it like it's a feather._ She pulled her sword up in a defensive stance.

"Are you really able to use that?" I asked with a smirk on my face.

Before she could even answer I had lunged at her and attacked. I usually don't go in full force, I like to play with my targets first but this one was different. You could tell that she had very little practice using a sword but she was somehow able to sense my every move before I even took it. I decided to put this to the test and fired off random magic spells but she was still able to dodge them.

"Humph, you are good but how do you like this. Phantom twist." I said powering up my energy.

Shooting out of my body were exact replicas of me. There were five of them in all surrounding her. I had disappeared and she couldn't see me. (The point of that attack is to make the opponent think that you are one of the five people they can see and not realise where you actually are. This way I could do a surprise attack on them or run away whilst they are distracted with my doubles). I walked right up behind Kaylee and slashed her across her back with my sword. Kaylee fell down to the floor with a shocked look on her face.

"NOOOOOOOOO!" Yelled Auron.

He kicked Aeris to the floor and blasted each of my doubles with some sort of lighting magic. They all disappeared and I reappeared right behind Kaylee with my sword up ready to end the fight. As I slashed down my blade shattered just before it made contact with Kaylee's head. I fell back in shock and as I did so the wound on Kaylee's back healed up and a wave of dark energy shot out of her sending me flying across the clearing right to the other end of it (which is about 40 feet away). As I got up I noticed that Kaylee's pupils had gone bone white and she had loads of dark energy surrounding her. I looked towards her slave and noticed that he was concerned. I got up and walked towards her.

"Holy Mother was right to fear you." I said calmly.

I was calm on the outside but inside I was nervous about what was going on. In my whole 7 years as a Necromancer I have never seen anyone turn the way Kaylee has. All of my attempts to scan her were being blocked and I didn't know how strong she had become, I didn't know her weakness or what attacks she had. I had to tread carefully here. I called up my powers and thought about my next course of action.

"Mana drive." I said.

As I said that about 20 beams of energy appeared out of the sky, the ground, the trees, everything and headed straight towards Kaylee. They all hit her and once but once the energy had disappeared I noticed that she was still standing there without a scratch on her.

"Energy rain." I said getting angry.

I jumped up into the air and pulled out my pistols. I aimed them at Kaylee and just as I pulled the trigger I stopped moving and hundreds of energy beams shot out of my guns and flew straight toward her. The shots hit her and I landed back on the ground. The smoke cleared and she was still just floating there about a foot of off the ground.

"No, that's impossible," I said starting to get scared.

"COMPRESSION!" I yelled.

A big ball of gravity flew out of my hands and straight towards Kaylee. Just as it was about to hit her she punched it and it flew back at me and hit me in the chest. I went flying back and hit a tree which snapped in half when I hit it. I fell to the floor but got back up right away. I looked around and noticed that Kaylee was gone.

"Meteor strike." I heard somebody say from above me.

I looked up and saw this huge meteor falling down on me. I had no time to react and it hit me right in the face squishing me between it and the floor. The meteor disappeared and when I looked up I saw that Kaylee was back to normal but she was unconscious and lying on the floor.

"How? How are you a grade C necromancer but you were able to defeat me, a grade A?" I asked nobody in particular because I was still in shock.

"Why do want to kill her?" Auron said walking up to me.

"The Holy Mother cough wants her dead. They have put a large sum of money on Kaylee's head." I said barely able to sit up.

"You work for the Holy Mother, they want all Necromancers dead. Why do you work for them?"

"Because it was either that or death."

"Well this is going to end. I don't like the fact that they have a price on my master's head and I'm going to sort it out."

"You won't be able to do it on your own. You will need my help."

"How so? Like you said my master was able to defeat you."

"Yes but I have experience of fighting and killing them. I can count on one hand how many Necromancers have been able to kill Exorcists, and only three of us still  
live. I'm not saying that I want to go head to head with them but I might be able to train your master up a bit, get her ready for when she does attack them."

"So Jamie you have decided that you don't want to work for us anymore." A slimly voice said from behind a tree.

She walked out from behind the tree. She was almost 7 feet tall and was wearing a white full body robe. She was holding a white wooden staff and was walking on air. She walked towards the clearing and knelt down beside me.

"Ah has poor Jamie finally decided to go back to the dark side." She said in a childish mocking tone.

"Lucile how nice to see you again." The disgust in my voice was clearly showing.

"You know that I now have to punish you for deciding not to kill the target."

As she said that a green light appeared around me and I felt revitalised. I looked over at Aeris and she was holding her staff out using a yakiyo-omega spell on me. I kicked Lucile in the chest and as she went flying back and I stood up. She got back up and looked angry.

"Wrong move devil boy." She said holding her staff above her head.

"Hell's gate." I said before she was able to use an attack on me.

Long strips of black rope shot out of the ground and started to wrap themselves around the whole of Lucile body. Then they started to pull her down into the underworld. I could hear a muffled scream as she disappeared from sight and the portal closed. I walked over to Aeris and gave her a little kiss on the head.

"Thank you." I said while smiling at her.

Then out of nowhere 5 Exorcists appeared. "Auron you need to run NOW." I yelled walking towards the Exorcists.

"I knew it was Jamie, I knew you were the one who killed Lucile." One of the hooded figures said.

"Auron please take Aeris and run, I will catch up with you soon. Just leave this place and I will find you. Don't forget Kaylee."

Auron grabbed hold of Kaylee and lifted her onto his shoulders. Aeris and Auron started to run. As they were leaving one of the Exorcists decided to follow them. I pulled a stick out of a pocket on the inside of my jacket. I twisted the stick and out of one end shot a lone pointed bit of metal turning it into a spear. I threw the spear towards the one chasing Aeris and it hit him right through the heart. He disappeared in a flash of white light and I called the spear back to me. I looked at the other knowing that I couldn't take them all on. _I live for Aeris so I will die for her._ I thought as I summoned the one thing I promised myself I wouldn't summon. As I did time around me just stopped and in front of me appeared a demon.

"Why do you summon me?" it asked in its deep hellish voice.

"Because I do not have the power to kill these Exorcists on my own."

"We only serve the strongest Necromancers."

"You can tell that I am a grade A Necromancer and have killed plenty of Exorcists in the past, I only ask that you help me deal with these one."

"Yes you are strong but what do we demons get for helping you. We do not work for free."

"What do you ask of me?"

"Blood, we love to drink holy blood. You are to hunt down Exorcists, at least one a week. Kill them and send them to us."

"It is a deal."

And as I said that time returned to normal and hundreds of demons appeared across the whole woods. "Let's get this started." I said to the Exorcists whilst raising my spear.

* * *

**This chapter is the first of munchinmonster's work on the fic. Keep an eye on that one, unlike our guests he is my honest to Cthulhu co-author.**

**DoE out**


	6. Immitation truth

**HAHAHAHAHAHA! It's finally time to introduce my own character, the darkness in light! HAHAHAHAHA!**

* * *

_I faced the west, my back to the rising sun and began to work my fingers vigorously, the beginning of an ancient travel ritual. Then at sunset I faced the east, my back to the light once more and I swallowed, then final part of a delicate procedure. SUCCESS! My vision blackens as I am transported to the world of some of the vilest of all demons, the scheema. Startled by my arrival is a green skinned humanoid with tentacles tipped with a dozen penises, but it wastes no time in attacking. I fire my pubic hair missile but it has no effect, I'm in trouble now!_

Then I wake, sweating and trying to figure out what is going on. Ok ... so, we know that was obviously a dream. I think the solution is to never drink red wine before bed ever again. Actually that is only half the problem, red wine at bed time results in bad dreams, it's probably watching La blue girl that results in fucking crazy arse tentacle demon dreams.

Oh well, time to get up any way. I'm currently house sitting for friends who are overseas, it rocks - free accommodation away from home and permission to have alone time with any special friends I may wish to invite, as long as I feed their cat and clean the place up before they get home. Actually I haven't quite gotten around to that yet ... mainly because there isn't someone I would invite, I'm kind of alone and without prospects at the moment. But I have raided their library, well bookshelf, and read some real classics ... that attitude could be why I don't have any prospects.

I finished Dante's Divine comedy yesterday before stooping to hentai, despite everyone seeming to love Dante's inferno I much preferred purgatory. Next on the shelf is, _Hmmm_, Faust, read it - not really worth quite so much attention as it gets but still quite good - so I move on.

_**Necromancy.**_ One word title ... doesn't really tell me much. But it seems odd for some reason; the owners are interested in lots of things, from classics like the Ilyad to "High pyromancy, the art of flame" but for some reason this one seems out of place. Was it on this shelf when I put the last book of the Divine comedy back last night? Why does it seem to be more real than the real world around it? As though it were real and all the other books and the shelves and even me only hallucinations next to it.

The alarm I set before bed starts beeping and I realize that for some reason I had to get up this morning instead of enjoying a day off. Oh shit, I'm supposed to be teaching a class at the dojo today. Hahaha, fuck. Melissa is going to rip me a new one if I'm late, today she needs an assistant and it has to be a girl, none of the guys come to Melissa's classes, they don't like to be around when she covers the darker side of the phrase 'no holds barred' especially when she starts demonstrating moves with names like 'monkey steals the peach'. Legend has it that she has actually ripped a man's testicles off with that one, she doesn't deny or confirm that one but I know for a fact that she once bit through a man's bicep all the way to the bone to escape a headlock.

So as I speed though breakfast and tooth brushing etc I think about the book. When it comes time to throw my dobok and gear in my bag I drop the book in too, I'll stop by a park on my way home and enjoy reading in the sun for today.

* * *

It's been over a year since then. On Ivalice I found that I had a servant bonded permanently to me, an awesomely bishonnen man named Irvine Kineas. My first night on the outskirts of Jagd dorsa was the first time I'd had sex (well with a man) in twelve months. That encounter set the tone for our lives together this past year, a steady pattern of training, being alone together, raiding villages and caravans for food and supplies and erotic encounters.

Because the two of us are so unusual for a necromancer-servant pair we have been mistaken for exorcists on many occasions and used that method to trick villages out of whatever we need as well. At first it was great, we got what we wanted and didn't have to waste time and attract attention slaughtering towns, but later on HOLY MOTHER heard about it and we've started attracting even worse attention than local men with pitchforks and rusty swords. That's what finally convinced Irvine to train me.

Lately it's been getting worse, with every attempt to kill us we escape our fame grows and more attempts are made on us. Right now I think that we are the HOLY MOTHER's most wanted pair, there are others stronger than us, there are others who have killed a few exorcists (we've never even killed one), but there is no one else who has ever evaded capture by a team of fifteen exorcists and there is no one else who has escaped the prisons of HOLY MOTHER on the day they were to be executed.

So we live almost permanently in Jagd Yensa. When we don't have to seek out food and when we don't need some other resource we can only get in human lands we wander the wastes around the tomb of Raithwall. We never enter; there are more than a few pilgrims and tourists who come to visit the dynast king's resting place so the risk of attracting attention is too high. It has become clear to the Urutan Yensa that we aren't a part of general humanity and they have begun to trade with us and have stopped attacking us on sight. Life in the Jagd is calming down and we may even be forgotten if HOLY MOTHER can't find us soon.

But that's a big if, so we train. I wield dual pistols, created by blood magic of course, with bullets enchanted to carry my stronger blood spells to the targets faster and Irvine wields a shotgun and pistol, both are real weapons but he creates his bullets by blood magic. He tells me that I am getting quite strong; he even says that I could probably take average strength immortals without his help now. I still have never beaten him though.

Lately he has been getting worried about HOLY MOTHER; he wants me to find some allies I can rely on to help when they try to catch up to me. I think allies are more a danger than a help, once I have friends I won't be willing to abandon them when I have to flee hunters, so the one thing that has always kept us alive will be taken from us.

"Break is over. Back to it love," That is something else, I couldn't stand being called mistress all the time so I spent months training him to call me _anything_ else, "May I?"

I nod my assent and raise my arm, Irvine sinks his teeth into my wrist and the feeling is perfect. Like a thousand times before I feel me flowing into him and the two of us filling each other up. I gasp for breath. Then I notice something out of the ordinary.

"Irvine," I do my best to sound cross as he massages my left breast while drinking his fill, when my hand drops to the front of his jeans and begins to massage I realize I'm not doing too good a job of it. I smirk into his eyes as he moans in turn, "I thought we were training once your energy was replenished."

"Mmmm, we could I suppose ..." Irvine sounded tauntingly reluctant, letting me know exactly what we could do instead. As though his tone weren't enough he dropped his roaming hand to run a finger tantalizingly along the seam of my own jeans. As I shook in anticipation and pressed myself into him his face suddenly changed. _Damn_. Sometimes he has the most inconvenient mood changes, he's just decided that it is too important that I get ready to face enemies to waste time on pleasure. Sure he is suppressing his own urges to do what's best for me, but what of my urges?

* * *

Irvine has put his shotgun aside and is only wielding one pistol, I get two because ... well, because he will beat me anyway. Both our weapons are enchanted to deal no damage and only stun the target so this is a live fire exercise too.

We deflect each other's hands in a high paced race to get the other in our line of fire without being there ourselves. When one clip runs dry, rather than create more ammo for it I flip the weapon around and wield it as a short hooked stick, flicking the only pistol my immortal has out of his grip and try to step back enough that a pistol's range will give me the advantage.

Somehow he doesn't let me do that, with crazy speed he is in my face, closer than I can even throw an elbow at. His hand finds the side of my face and his lips find mine, I go lax in his grip for an instant before I notice that he is building energy. It's a trick; he's calling his gun back to himself while I'm distracted. I raise my pistol to the back of his skull as quickly as I can and pull the trigger.

**BANG**

Then I go down; the damn pistol was just a decoy too. He was standing over the spot he threw his shotgun away and shot me full in the chest pulling the trigger with his feet.

"I win round one. You get to loose an item of clothing," Irvine's smile is positively wicked as he removes my long coat from my stunned body and undoes the enchantment so that I can move once more. He takes his chance to run his fingers over some sensitive locations while I can't fight back first though.

* * *

Several hours later we are relaxing on the banks of the Ogir Yensa sand sea, fortunately the desert is still hot because I am now naked. I lost the chaps and my boots during mid and long range pistol practice, my top in long range automatic weapons, my jeans in close range automatics and my underwear in unarmed. But for the first time I have bested Irvine in two exercises in one day, in blood magic (the one I can normally win) I won his coat and in my first ever success in the sniping training I took his shirt too.

Now that the 'matches' are over he doesn't mind that I'm leaning into his chest and working his belt free, he already won and being the last one with clothes on isn't that interesting any more. As I strip him his hand wanders freely, finding places to trace idly as though tempting me with what will come later. Right now we won't be losing ourselves in the sex straight away, we are going skinny dipping in the sandsea tonight and we should at least make it past the first few waves before giving in to the urge. Irvine's finger comes painfully close to penetration and my want escapes in a gasp, my breath obviously rubs him just right and his now freed length begins to harden to more than just mild arousal. Maybe we won't make it to the surf beforehand.

Ultimately it isn't our passion that stops us before we reach the sloshing sands of the Ogir Yensa but my instincts. I stiffen when I pick up three separate powers approaching us from three different directions, we are surrounded. Since we can't run without having at least one exactly in our way we do the only thing we can do, we get dressed and materialise our weapons.

My heart drops when the presences come close enough to identify; to the south is the Amalaric sniper, one of the most powerful long range specialist exorcists in HOLY MOTHER, a master archer who uses purifying arrows that really hurt our type of people. He is one half of the duo that actually caught Irvine and I that one time we managed to escape. To the northeast is the Seraphic assassin, rumoured to be the sniper's twin brother he is the other half of HOLY MOTHER's elite ranged unit and the team that caught us. Ironically he is the one closest to us in that he uses bullets to deliver long range magic as well. To the northwest is a signature I have never encountered.

When the three crest the hills around us the two ranged specialists begin setting up their positions on their own hills. Well, the Amalaric sniper does, drawing his bow and having his seraphim prepare to dash toward close combat with me if needed. The seraphic assassin just slouches in place, his seraphim (which transforms to make his incredibly high powered rifle in combat) stands in human form behind his right shoulder. The unknown presence crests the hill and finally I can place a face to it. A woman, perhaps only twenty five, with bright red hair and light plate armour painted white, on her left is her seraphim in the form of a glowing orb and pieces are falling off it, each forming a new smaller version of the original. By the time she reaches me she has no more seraphim at all but a huge army of smaller floating orbs surround us, I know who this is.

"Sniper," I nod in the direction of his hill, "Assassin," again I nod, as though I'm not about to die horribly, "and you must be the one known as the divine legion?"

The woman smiles grimly at me, "Indeed, you are the darkness in light. Now that we all know each other, you will come with us to attend the execution you decided to postpone two months ago."

So much for small talk, I have no chance here, even one of the ranged specialists could take us both without his seraphim and word has it that the divine legion is one of the most talented new recruits to the HOLY MOTHER organization. Retreat then, "Well, obviously I won't be just giving up to death, but against the sniper and the assassin I'm royally screwed. But you're a talented rookie, new to your elite status. I'm going to bet that I can play on your inexperience and secure victory and you're going to bet that your talent can keep you alive long enough to gain the experience that would make you as good as your backup. The stakes - If I defeat you I go free and unmolested for twenty four hours, if I am defeated I will accept my execution and not make an escape attempt until the blade has fallen."

"Stop, she's ..."

"Shut up!" The legion overrides the sniper's advice and begins to gather her energy, "I can take her and the stakes are just right," Just as I thought, the skilled rookie is a hot head, this one is in the bag and I will live to fight another day.

"Then come," I put on a pose of boredom, one hand gripping a pistol crossed over my chest and the other balanced on it tapping my other pistol's barrel against my cheek, "let's see if the divine legion can outnumber me by enough to make up for the difference in our speeds. You do know I'm fast don't you? The speed of dark is so very much faster than that of light, after all when the light gets somewhere hasn't the darkness always already left?" my tapping hand moves ever so slightly and I pull the trigger. Blood fills the air in a bright spray and the legion's eyes go wide in shock.

"Fuck! Stop her!" I can hear the sniper's voice and the singing of his arrow as it cuts the air, his seraphim is charging toward me almost as fast. But an arrow is too slow.

"SEVEN!" The assassin screams the name of his seraphim and it turns into his massive rifle and he takes aim, he might have been able to hit me. If he'd been aiming at me to begin with, his carelessness has let me out speed him too.

"Wha..?" the acute puzzlement on the legion's face as the blood from my neck sprays into the air is priceless. She reaches toward me but she is too slow too.

The bright red slash of my life fluids in the air curls and wraps Irvine and I in a perfect sphere, when it falls to the ground we are in Rabanastre. That is what makes me so special in the eyes of HOLY MOTHER, my ability to flee. As far as I know I am the only person - necromancer or exorcist - who can teleport in and out of Jagd. I'm also the only one who can teleport the massive distances I know myself to be capable of. As my consciousness fades I consider the cost of that skill, I will be out for days and without orders Irvine will have to hope to keep me a secret and heal me on his own. Actually, what I'm really thinking is that despite the trouble it would cause for me (since I would be blamed for killing an exorcist) I really hope the legion was stupid enough to lunge after me and get herself killed by the sniper's arrow.

But even that seems far away as I black out in the muscular arms of my servant.

**

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**

**YEAH! Did you all see how awesome and totally not inspired by rider that last bit was?**

**DoE out**


	7. Bad day

**AHHHHH! It's the first chapter of actual continuous plot! It's all happening too fast! What are we going to do?**

* * *

**Bad day**

**

* * *

**"It is a deal."

And as I said that time returned to normal and hundreds of demons appeared across the whole woods. "Let's get this started." I said to the Exorcists whilst raising my spear.

The woods were full of demons; they were on the platform that I was on as well as the surrounding paths. I looked at the Exorcists and smiled. _There is no way they are going to survive this._ I just stood there with the demons looking at me waiting for an order. I waved my arm out in front of me and the demon pounced onto the Exorcists. They stood no chance; before they could even attack they were being ripped apart. The demons were pulling off their arms, legs and heads. They were eating the Exorcists alive. The Exorcists were screaming out in pain and I had to look away, it was too much to see. I cannot describe how horrible it was, you'll see yourself when you first summon the demons.

"You knew what it would be like before you summoned us." One of the demons said while wiping the blood from his mouth.

"Doesn't mean I have to like it." I replied coldly before walking away.

"Do not forget our deal." He said as I turned a corner and disappeared from his view.

When I was far enough away from the demons I fell to the floor and brought up my breakfast.

* * *

I walked out of the woods and Auron, Aeris, and Kaylee were all standing there with their weapons raised. Once they saw it was me they lowered their weapons and Aeris ran over to me.

"Are you alright?" she asked when she saw the sick look on my face.

"I...summoned the demons." I said sitting down and putting my head in my hands.

"Oh Jamie, you said you would never do that again."

"And I never will again. I swear it will be the last time."

"You are able to summon demons, what's the problem? They must have torn the Exorcists apart." Kaylee said walking up to me.

"You could say that. Just trust me; it is something you never want to see." I said looking at the floor.

"Ok, now we have to decide what to do next." I said standing up.

"We need to find somewhere safe to lay low." Auron said.

"But where?" Kaylee asked. "I thought they had people everywhere."

"There are a few places that Exorcists stay away from." I said.

"Really, where are these places?"

"I don't know. To be honest I don't even know if there is anywhere. It is just a rumour."

"Jamie, remember a few years back when we were being chased through the Golmore jungle and the Ozmone plains." Aeris said looking towards me.

"Yes I remember. When we got to Jahara they stopped chasing and turned back the way they came." I said smiling at her.

"I think we need to go and visit the Garif again."

"Yes, and what a perfect place to start Kaylee's training."

**

* * *

(THREE MONTHS LATER)**

"No no no, that is all wrong." I said taking the sword off of Kaylee.

"It's like this." I said slicing the sword across the floor and creating a red beam of energy.

The beam left the sword and slid across the floor and hit the target which exploded leaving a small crater with red smoke pouring out of it. "You have to put your magic into your sword but you have to leave a little bit in your hand until the last minute then let it fly. The less you keep in your hand the more powerful the attack will be, but don't leave to little otherwise you won't be able to control it. Ok, one more try and we'll call it a day. Aim for that rock."

I handed the sword back to Kaylee. She took it and concentrated. I saw her arm glow with a black aura and she sliced the sword across the floor. A red beam came out of the blade and slid across the floor. It skimmed the rock and carried on pass it and hit a cactus.

"Hah, not bad just need to concentrate a bit more and you'll have it. It took me a whole week to learn that move and you've practically learned it in half that time." I said turning and walking back to the village.

"What can I say, I'm special." She laughed while running to come level with me.

"Damn girl, you can say that again."

We walked the rest of the way in silence and after about 10 minutes made our way back to the village. As soon as we walked through the gate I saw Aeris running towards us with Auron a little bit behind them. When Aeris reached me she jumped onto me and gave me a hug. She's usually happy to be just partners but every now and then she goes through this phase where all she wants is sex. It starts off with a wink or a hug and a kiss and once she does that there's no stopping her and it results in me hiding for two days and threatening not to let her feed if she carries on.

"Well somebody's happy." I said while giving her the 'you'll be lucky' look.

She looked at me like she was bored. "Well I am. The Garif are having a party and we have been invited."

"A party, are you sure. I don't think I've ever seen the Garif have a party."

"Yes, one of the young has beaten his teacher in a fight and has become a warrior. It is a party in his honour."

"Sounds like fun, right Kaylee." I said looking towards her.

Auron had his face stuck to hers and was in the middle of putting his hand down her pants. Me and Aeris both looked away before walking off. Aeris had the jealous look on her face, while I felt like calling out 'get a room'.

**

* * *

(SEVERAL HOURS LATER).**

I was sitting by a campfire watching Aeris dance with Kaylee. They looked beautiful. Some of the Garif women were with them trying to teach them some of the Garif dances. Auron came and sat down beside me. "I was just wondering; what will happen once Kaylee has finished her training and when will that be?" Auron said while looking at the girls.

"She will finish it when she is ready, it could be next week or next month but the way she is going it will be soon, and when she finishes she will choose what she wants to do"

"What about you and Aeris?"

"What will be, will be. I try not to think ahead too much."

"So you have no plans?"

"I have plans. I plan to stay as far away from the Exorcists as possible."

"Why? You are one of the lucky few who are able to kill them, why don't you use your power and go after them?"

"Because I can be defeated, the Exorcists have shown me that in the past. Did you know there was a time when there were dozens of us who were able to kill Exorcists?"

"No, if there were dozens why are there only a few left?"

"Because they let it get to their heads and went out and fought the Exorcists. The few left are those who ran and hid. It's not a glorious or honourable story but we are the only ones left alive." I said looking towards the floor with a frown on my face.

"What happened?" Auron asked as Aeris and Kaylee came and sat down with us.

"It was a man named Michael who started it all. He was a great necromancer and my mentor. He found me on the Cerobi Steppe being chased by three Exorcists. I had been here in this world for less than a week and they were already there about to kill me. He came out of nowhere with his guardian, her name was Lenne. They killed the Exorcists and took me to Balfonheim. For the next year and a half he trained me up and made me the necromancer I am today, that was 7 years ago. I was only 13 and the Exorcists were willing to kill me. It made him sick to his stomach. During that year and a half we travelled the world searching for Necromancers. We found hundreds of them and slowly and secretly built an army. When I reached 15 I killed my first Exorcist and once I did that he made me a general in the army. I was in charge of a strike force of 8 people. All 9 of us could and had killed Exorcists; we were the special forces of the army and were always out in the field. In 6 months we had killed over 50 Exorcists between us. That's when I was given the name Reaper, and we were nicknamed the stormtroopers because we wore Exorcist armour and gowns so they wouldn't see us as a threat until it was too late."

"What happened next?" Kaylee asked after I was quiet for a minute or so.

"4 years ago when I was 16 the whole army raided an Exorcist stronghold. Everything went perfectly; we killed almost a hundred Exorcists that day and lost only a dozen or so Necromancers. It was the start of the war. Over the next three months they killed just under 300 Necromancers leaving barely 40 of us. We were the strongest of the whole army. My whole squad was still alive but I realised that we were fighting a losing battle. I told my squad the best thing to do was to break up and run, to lay low and hide from the Exorcists. Only four of us…ran, we were branded traitors but a few days later the Exorcists stormed the hideout and killed everybody. Out of an army of 350 Necromancers there are 3 of us left."

"I thought you said 4."

"There was but one died shortly afterwards, she…"

As I said that I saw a flash of light up on one of the cliffs surrounding the village. I stood up and jumped up to the cliff with my spear out. When I landed I looked around and saw nothing. I jumped back down and ran over the Aeris. "What is it?" she asked looking around.

"I think they've found us. Pack your things, we leave first thing tomorrow morning." I said walking to my tent.

"Wouldn't it be better to leave under nightfall." Auron said.

"No, I want them to know we have left. That way they won't bother the Garif trying to get to us. Alright we have 8 hours 'til daybreak that is a 2 hour watch each. I'll take first watch, and then Kaylee, Auron and Aeris can take the last one. Get some sleep." As I said that I walked towards the town entrance to begin my shift.

**

* * *

**

I had just been woken up by a loud noise. I looked at my watch and the time 3.15. _Still Kaylee's watch, I'll go and check on her._ As I got up I heard several explosions. I picked up my guns and ran out of my tent. I looked around and saw that most of the village was on fire. I saw Aeris running towards me from the entrance to the village. "Jamie, the Exorcists are attacking, there are loads of them, I couldn't count them all." She said quickly.

"Ok, let's get Kaylee and Auron and leave."

"I'm sorry Jamie. Kaylee…she…"

"She what Aeris?"

"She's dead, they took her down first. Two arrows through the head. We must leave now, if we hurry we can make it to the gate crystal and head somewhere else."

"No, she can't be dead." I said almost coming to tears.

Aeris grabbed hold of my arm and was pulling me. I kept telling myself over and over again that she was alive. Before I even realised it Aeris shoved my hand onto the gate crystal and teleported us out of there. When we reappeared I looked around and saw that we were in Rabanastre. "Jamie look at me. LOOK AT ME!" Aeris said with a firm voice.

I looked up at her. "She is dead; there is nothing you can do to change that. The best thing to do is to forget about it until we know that we are safe." She said grabbing hold of my arms.

"You can be so cold sometimes, have a fucking heart. We have just spent 3 months with her and Auron; we have all become good friends. Don't tell me that you don't care." I said to her with a disgusted tone.

"Don't you dare say that I don't care, they were my friends to. But we may still be in trouble. Look, in a couple of days we will go back and pick up her body. We'll give her a proper funeral and mourn her than."

"Ok, fine we'll do that." I said realising what she said.

"We need some info; we'll go to the sandsea. We're bound to find some necromancers there, perhaps they will know something about the Exorcists. That attack wasn't spur of the moment, it was planned. Perhaps some other plans of their got leaked out."

"Ok, to the sandsea then. Hopefully I'll be able to find out who it was who killed her, and once I do they will pay for it in hell."

With that we set off towards the Sandsea in hopes of finding a few Necromancers and hopefully an Exorcist. 'Cause if I do find one, he will talk, I'll make sure of that.

**

* * *

**

**Are you scared too? Why did you do it munchin, why?**

**Actually, looking back now, this is pretty removed from his character in the rest of the fic  
**

**DoE out**


	8. Burning inside

**Burning inside**

* * *

_I'm scared of the darkness in light._

_I scare myself because I know I'm right._

_I see the evil in your savage eye..._

_...Burning inside._

* * *

My eyes blur in and out of focus a little as I sit in the bar of the sandsea in Rabanastre, I hate living in this city, with the stink and sound of a million people everywhere all day long, but Jagd is where they are looking for me right now so I will hide in the cities instead. A little over a week after my run in with the exorcists I found out that they were acting without orders, the sniper and the assassin wanting to close accounts with me and the rookie legion wanting any taste of glory she could get. It turns out that I was right, the stupid rookie bought my feint and lunged at me, getting killed by the attacks the two others aimed at me, of course it's really bad publicity for HOLY MOTHER to admit to a blue on blue incident so they have decided to blame me.

I've had to flee and move to new towns a few times now, just a few days ago I had to shoot myself again to pull off enough blood power to get back to Rabanastre from the small imperial conclave being set up in the Jagd at the Ridoranna cataract. My massive throat wound has closed since that is part of the magic too but my neck is currently red and sore looking. It took me almost twenty minutes to work out why everyone in the bar seemed to be staring at us, with my healing injuries looking as they do Irvine and I look like a victim of domestic violence and the perpetrator out on the town. Irvine being strictly in hands off mode and staring sullenly at me probably doesn't help – but then again nor does the way I am staring at him, I cant help wishing that I wasn't recovering so we could engage in some of our normal contact.

I sneeze and then I wince as the motion causes me pain. Shaking my head I watch a man enter the bar, not even walking up to talk to the bartender he simply proceeds to the hunt board and posts a request, then he leaves again. I stroll over to take a look; a dozen others waiting to for hunts to turn up in the bar all try to kill me with their glares.

_Hmm, a t-rexaur from the Estersand found its way into lowtown and the damn fool residents mobbed it and killed it. But the corpse fell into the Garamscythe waterway, became an undead dragon because this sort of shit happens in Ivalice and killed a dozen or more city guards who tried to clear it out. Twenty thousand Gil to anyone who can kill it._

I pull the flier free and slip it into my pocket. We already have taken three missions down from the board so others can't take them on us and many of the other hunters in the bar are whispering angrily to each other now. We have enough hunts that are in the town for one night, why bother having to fight a horde of angry hunters? As a necromancer I was surprised to find just how much stronger I am than the normal people of Ivalice, especially since exorcists (and even my own servant) are so much stronger than me. But these normal hunts will take me at best an hour and net us living expenses for over a month. No need to incite a riot, we will finish our drinks and leave peacefully before hunters start hunting us for taking all their jobs.

Then with almost no warning the lights in the bar start to flicker and dim. I look up and cast a simple enhancing spell on my ears, one of the two who just came in is a necromancer and he is apparently angry enough not to hide the innate dark aura that sets us apart from humans. At least I assume that the 'he' is the necromancer and that the 'she' is his servant since she seems much too calm to be the one pulling an aura this big.

"Exorcists, two of them," my enhanced hearing is already paying off. We need to move now, this happens to Irvine and I all the time. Because of our appearances we are often mistaken for a pair of exorcists, sometimes it's good to receive praise and gifts, but usually it's bad to have both necromancers and exorcists trying to kill you because of it.

As I stand to flee they begin to rush us, the bar man draws breath to shout his alarm and a dozen hunters reach for weapons. Both the strange necromancer-servant pair and Irvine and I are too fast for that though.

Irvine's shotgun gives out and a red glow fills it with fast ammo and he pumps out three shots in rapid succession, but the male is much too fast for him and side steps each shot until he is in range to knock the gun aside and pin Irvine to a wall, one hand drawn back to spear his enemy through the throat.

Deep gashes form on my palms as I will the blood to burst free and form my pistols. I fire my first shot with the pistol in my right hand and it jerks the end of the female's staff backward, stopping the incoming blow. A second shot from my left rips it from her grip completely and sends it spinning across the room, my third shot, from my right again, is enchanted with a base fire spell and slams into her shoulder but the woman's blood is at least powerful enough to stop her bursting into flame. My fourth shot is enchanted with stop and rips out of my left pistol to stick the staff midair. So we stand me with a pistol at the woman's throat and the man with one hand poised to finish Irvine's current incarnation.

Considering the relative skills of the two strangers I make a judgement, looking directly into the woman's eyes I speak, "Call of your servant and I won't kill you."

The woman is curiously blank but the man speaks, "I assure you that I am quite capable of raising my servant even if you choose to kill her."

_Damn,_ I've misjudged the situation, I assumed that because the woman was weaker she must be the master and he the servant ... still, "this is a bit unusual," I hope that my casual tone hides the fact that I _know_ that if this guy can beat Irvine the he can beat me easily, "two necromancers battling and both able to defeat the other's servant easily."

There it is, the uneasy pause, I can talk my way out of this, "You're a necromancer? You look like an exorcist."

I remove my pistol from the girl's face and move to sit back down, "I get that a lot, you've probably heard of the darkness in light? Barkeep, two beers, two lemon vodkas."

"Err ... I prefer not to drink ..."

The girl in pink seems almost ashamed to admit and I shrug it off, "Ok then, leave it sitting in front of you and if it's still there when I finish mine I'll drink it too," I gesture to the two seats opposite us.

"Impressive, the darkness in light is a famous name. You are even more wanted than the three survivors of the last great necromancer army and you're not even strong enough to kill a single exorcist unaided," the man hides some unknown emotion at the mention of the now destroyed army but I decide not to mention it, strangely he also seems to look down on me for not being able to kill an exorcist single handed, as though such a thing wasn't an incredible task only the most legendary powers might aim for.

I feel like I need to boast in a way I normally wouldn't, normally I wouldn't care if someone thought I had no more skill than a dog in the street. But for some reason the logically much more acceptable suggestion that I am less than a god just rubs me the wrong way, "Oh? Been out of circulation a while friend?" I am perversely satisfied to see the confusion on his face, "I am currently wanted for the murder of an exorcist code-named 'the divine legion'"

The pair opposite me look surprised and both Irvine and I sip our drinks in a satisfied manner, "let's get on with this, necros like us only come to places like this for information and your sudden assault, even if you did think we were exorcists, kinda says the info you're after isn't the normal 'need a bit of cash so what can I do' info that you can get from the mundanes. You want to know something only a necro or an exorcist can tell you, what is it?"

"I want to know the names of the exorcists who raided Jahara about half an hour ago. My student was taken down in the assault."

"Oh? That _is_ breaking news ... but even if you asked most exorcists they wouldn't have heard of the attack yet, secrecy and all that, you may have to give some more details. What sort of attack took him down, how they got close enough to do it in the middle of the Garif village where exorcists famously don't go, how good was your student. That sort of detail."

The still unnamed necromancer opposite me easily swallowed half of his beer in a go, although I suspect that the motion hides his deeper feelings. In his place his servant – still sitting primly behind the drink I gave her without having touched it – answers, "As far as I know the exorcist didn't actually enter the village ..."

"She," the necromancer cut in. At my confused look he clarifies, "you referred to my student as 'he'. You are mistaken."

_Quite... so it's that sort of situation, eh?_

As her master polishes off the last of his beer the brown haired and probably familiar (after all, as far as I have been able to tell all servants exist in our 'real' world as 'fictional' characters. Cant quite recall this one though, I've been out of contact with that world for too long) servant finishes, "... he never came close enough for me to directly feel his essence. The method was a pair of arrows to the head. And Kaylee was about B-class in terms of raw combat power."

Well, well. Fairly sure I know who this is going to turn out to be. Just one more variable before I can confirm it beyond doubt, "Well then miss ..."

"Aeris." _Damn, she's Aeris? I really should have recognised that._

"Indeed. Well Miss Gainsborough, what rank is your sensing skill?"

"I am of the A-class in both magical and aura sensing."

"Then I definitely know who it is. I can of course tell you ... if you can meet my price." I swallow the last of my drink and reach out for the one I gave Aeris. ... It's empty, _when the hell did she..._

The stranger gestures to the barman, same again, and our drinks are brought over before he starts speaking again, obviously taking the time to consider what he might offer me. Although I can't help but notice that, despite her claim not to drink, he has got Aeris another glass, "Very well what would you have of me?"

I smile, things still looking good, "Let's start with confirming that you're seeking him for revenge, then you can tell me exactly how you intend to kill one of the highest ranked specialists in Holy Mother and we can work our way up from there."

"Of course I'm seeking revenge! How I intend to kill him is none of your concern!" He looks angry now, I have to tread carefully, he is after all clearly more powerful than I am.

That said, a little stupid bluff tends to go a long way, "Then his name and, indeed, a fairly sure fire method of drawing him out are none of your concern."

He looks ready to go nuts and swing at me, but he forces it down, "I will kill him in single combat, I am Reaper, one of the three survivors of the last great necromancer army and one of three ..." he pauses a moment to look at me, "well – apparently four now – living necromancers capable of killing an exorcist singlehandedly. Now who conducted the raid in Jahara and how do I draw him out?"

"Therein lies the rub. There are a grand total of two exorcists currently alive and capable of killing a B-class necromancer from outside A-class sensory range, they are twins and as far as I know never act separately. But one of them uses a sniper rifle, so it is his brother who dealt your student the actual killing stroke. Their real names aren't known to me but their codenames are the Seraphic assassin and the Amalaric sniper. The latter is the older and the bowman you seek. As for how to draw them to you ... I fear I need an oath before I can share that one."

Reaper's eyes narrow, obviously he is suspicious that I am letting him know exactly what he is searching for while asking only apparently worthless information in return, he thinks that the oath is going to be the catch he knows is coming, "What would you have of me?"

"I want you to swear that, once I lure them to you, you will kill both of them, not just the one who killed your student. Basically, since both of your targets bear personal hatred for me, it is to my advantage if you kill them off, so the price of me telling you how to bring them out is that you accept an assassination mission on my behalf."

His face creases in consideration, but I know he will accept, "Can you occupy one of them while I finish off the first? At most I will need five minutes."

I calculate, "Yes, if I take the terrain advantage, then Irvine and I can occupy the Seraphic assassin and Seven for as long as eight minutes."

"Seven?"

"It's the name of the assassin's partner spirit thing."

"Seraph."

"Indeed."

"Ok, we have a deal." Reaper extended his hand to shake and the four of us finished our drinks.

As I took the offered hand I considered the variables, I factored in the destination – I will need to spill a bit of blood and feel some pain but since I'm not also forcing my way through an anti-teleportation barrier set up by exorcists I won't actually have to open my throat this time. So I place my pistol to the back of my right hand, still gripping Reaper's in a firm shake so that the bullet won't just pierce me but him as well. To carry a passenger I need their blood as well as mine, of course servants can come as long as I have their master's blood. As his eyes widen and he begins to ask me what the hell I think I'm doing I interrupt, "By the way – are you any good at fighting in Jagd?"

**BANG**

Off we go to Jagd Helje. My new ally and myself.

* * *

**An: here you go! Joint mini plot between me and munchin! The bit at the top comes from burning inside by static-x and is where I ... stole, me character's name from**

**Munchin A/N: the mini plot me and Ether have written will be short only about 3 – 4 chapters long and after that it will go into the main story.**


	9. Nightfall

**Nightfall**

* * *

We disappeared from the sandsea as a bullet burst open my hand sending blood everywhere. We reappeared in the middle of some desert and I pulled my hand away from Darkness and with my other hand I put my spear to her throat. "What the fuck do you think you are doing? You may want to pick your next words carefully." I said as my eyes began to glow a blood red colour.

Irvine began to reach for his gun but Aeris had one of my guns to his head before he was even able to get it out. "I transported us to the Jagd Helje, it is the last reported place that our targets were seen in. but in order to bring us here I needed to spill both of our blood." She replied looking a bit scared.

The shock of what happened past and my anger disappeared. I lowered my spear and muttered an apology. Aeris gave my gun back to me. "When were they last reported here?" I asked.

"Yesterday."

"Well an hour ago they were in Jahara, so shouldn't we be heading there?" I asked raising one of my eyebrows.

"Jamie we cannot go back there. I took you away from there because we didn't know how many Exorcists were there. We don't even know if the attack has stopped or not."

"Even more reason to go back."

I turned to Darkness, "Can you take me to Jahara?"

"Are you crazy? If they attacked the Garif then there must've been a lot of them. Plus, if they attacked only an hour ago then they might still be there." Darkness said while looking at me like I was crazy.

"I hope they are. I am really not in the mood to go looking for them two Exorcists."

"I may have killed one Exorcist but I cannot go up against an army of them."

"Your point being?"

"I will NOT take you into the middle of a battle field."

I grabbed hold of her hand a little too hard and pulled her towards me until we were inches apart. "Then take me to a gate crystal, but our deal will be off."

"That's not fare, I want us to work together but I don't want to go into a war zone."

"I will protect you."

She still didn't like the idea but she understood that I would leave her behind if she didn't take me. She let out a little sigh and pulled out her gun and put it to the back of her hand. She pulled the trigger and for the second time in ten minute I felt a searing heat pass through my hand and the area around me disappeared and was replaced by the familiar sight of the Garif village. I let go of her hand and threw a shield around us.

"You come back with back up I see." The war chief said walking up to me.

I lowered the shield and bowed my head. "I am sorry I left my friend, but they were after me and Aeris' first thought was my safety."

"Do not worry yourself, they only attacked the Garif in self defence and even then they didn't kill any of us. Once they saw you leave they retreated."

"I am glad to hear that. Did any of you happen to kill one who was carrying a bow?"

"We didn't kill any of them; their injured disappeared before we could kill them."

"Ok, what of Kaylee's body?"

"They tried to take it but were unwilling to fight for it once we surrounded her."

"So it is still here?"

"Yes, we were waiting for you to return before we prepared the ceremony."

"Ceremony?" Darkness asked.

"It's a Garif funeral." I said turning towards her.

**

* * *

**

It was close to nightfall and we were standing around Kaylee who was lying on a bed of wood and sticks and covered in oil. The setting sun was making the sky a blood red colour. It was a lot more red then normal. _The gods feel my pain tonight and the Exorcists will feel it tomorrow._ We all stood around her with our heads bowed down and the Garif chief was saying a few words which I did not listen to. This was a typical ceremony for a Garif warrior. In the past three months she had trained and hunted with the Garif and they had accepted her as one of their own. The Garif chief walked up to me and handed me the torch. In this sort of ceremony it is the person who is closest to the deceased who sets them alight.

Tears started to swell up in my eyes as I walked up to her body. I said a quick prayer and put the torch into the bed of wood. It took a few second for it to light up, but once it did it spread very quickly and she was engulfed in flames in no time. Slowly people started to walk away but I didn't budge. I stood there for almost 4 hours until all that was left were ashes and a few embers. I said another prayer forgetting about the first one. When I turned to walk away I saw that Darkness and Irvine were sitting on a rock a few meters away just staring at me. I walked towards them.

"You cared for her a lot didn't you?" Darkness asked.

"Yes."

I didn't say anything else as I walked past them and entered my tent.

**

* * *

**

I woke up to the sound of female voices outside my tent. I turned over trying to get back to sleep but they just got louder and it seemed that they weren't agreeing on something.

"We should wake him up and tell him." Darkness said.

"No, let him sleep, it was a long night and we can tell him when he wakes up." Aeris said.

"Long night, don't make me laugh, he was asleep by 10. He's had a good 9 hour rest."

I walked out of the tent but neither of the girls saw me standing there. "Seraphic assassin and the Amalaric sniper may move on to a different area, we need to get to them while the Intel is still fresh."

"Where are they?" I asked while putting on my jacket.

"Jagd Helje, they heard that we had headed there and decided to follow us."

"How do you know?"

"Last night Irvine and I went back to Rabanastre to get some new info."

"We let our partners feed and then we go." I said ushering Aeris into my tent.

Once Aeris had finished sucking me dry we left my tent and met up with Darkness and Irvine. We waited for twenty minutes and just as I was about to go and get them Irvine walked out of their tent doing up his jeans. They walked up to us and Darkness stood in front of me holding out her hand. I look up at her. _Damn this is hurting my fucking neck, but I don't really want to be talking to her breasts._ "If you are finished perhaps we can go and kill some Exorcists." I said a bit grumpily.

She grabbed my hand and did her usual thing and shot both of us. The last thing I remember before Jahara fades and we appear once again in the desert is Aeris saying 'at least somebody is getting some.'

When we reappeared I put my hand to the floor and sent out a black aura wave spreading in every direction. "What was that?" Irvine asked.

"It is like a radar; it will detect if anybody is nearby and let me know."

"Reaper." Darkness said while sitting on a rock. "How did you get that name? If you don't mind me asking."

"I got it during the war."

"What did a friend give it to you, or your leader?"

"No, the Exorcists gave it to me. All the guys thought it was funny when they found out."

I smiled at the memory when my wave came back and shot into my legs. I turned serious right away and everybody knew something was up. "There are two people half a mile north-east of here." I said.

Exorcists?" Aeris asked.

"Don't know, but one of them is quite powerful."

"Maldeera is in that direction, it could be a Nu Mou." Darkness said.

"No, they are definitely humans."

We walked towards the people and after a little while I could sense them without even trying. We walked over a sand dune and saw that they were just standing there with their weapons drawn looking towards us. "You took your time." The girl said.

The girls was very petit, only about 5'1 in size and had long wavy auburn hair. She was wearing a black vest with a black mini skirt. As I got closer I noticed that she was only a child, no older than 13 years old. I walked towards her and the guy who I took no notice of before walked in front of her blocking my path. He was at least 16 years old and had blond hair and wore a red t-shirt with black jeans. The girl pushed him to the side. "My name is Nina, this is Rex, and you are?" she asked.

"Ain't that outfit a bit sluttish for someone your age." I said.

Aeris giggled at my comment but Nina went all red in the face and drew out her sword. "WHAT I WEAR IS NONE OF YOUR BUSINESS!" She yelled before sending a ball of fire my way.

I held out my hand and the fireball disintegrated in mid air. I pulled out my sword (I picked up a new one in Jahara), Aeris got out her staff, Darkness and Irvine got out their guns. I looked towards Aeris. "Fucking Necromancers, they have such a short temper. You take the guy."

As I said that she jumped into the air and attacked the guy. Irvine and Darkness laid down covering fire for her and I ran towards the girl. I swung my sword sideways and she parried it and kicked me in me groin. I fell to the floor and turned myself into a red mist. She looked around confused and I turned myself back to normal behind her. She turned around and I punched her in the stomach and sent her flying. I flew after her and kicked her in the head sending her back down to the ground. She hit the ground in a huge explosion and flying out of it were five balls of black energy. I didn't have a chance to dodge them and they all hit. She then appeared in front of me and built up some fire magic around her hands. She slimmed her fists into my chest and it felt like my whole inside was boiling. While she was boiling my blood I decided to use it to my advantage.

"BLOOD DRIVE!" I yelled.

All over my body I could feel myself becoming stronger. I disappeared and reappeared above her. I grabbed hold of her head and began spinning her. As I was spinning her I became faster and faster. I let go of her head and she went falling back to the ground and the speed of sound. She hit the ground and loads of dust flew up around her. I landed next to the crater her impact had created and when the dust cleared I saw her standing there. She was surrounded by a black aura. "Blood mist." She said.

Loads of blood surrounded me and I couldn't see a thing. She ran towards me from the side and slashed me across the chest and ran away. She did this about 12 times in only a few seconds. The mist cleared and I dropped to one knee.

"Heh you're not so tough." She said.

She swung her sword down on me and I grabbed it with one hand. I snapped the blade away from the hilt and threw it to the side as a black aura grew around me. "I'm just getting warmed up…LITTLE…GIRL."

There was a massive explosion and standing right in the middle of it was me. I had grown a pair of black wings and was hovering about a foot of off the ground. I had this black aura around me which looked like black fire. "Finally a worthy opponent." I said in a demonic way.

I sent three beams of energy towards her which she dodged by flying into the air. I looked up and loads of spears appeared around her and she threw them towards me. Not one of them hit me, as they got close they flew off in a random direction. It was like I was surrounded by a magnetic field. "DARK FOREST!" She yelled.

Hundreds of plants grew around me in a matter of seconds and started to shoot needles at me. I created a dome like shield around myself out of pure aura and the needles disappeared when they hit it. As the plants died away clouds appeared out of nowhere and shot lighting at me. I held out my hands and turned the lighting into little balls which I cupped in my hands. (Sort of like what Yoda does in Star wars.). I looked up at her and gave her an evil grin. "My turn." I said and I threw the lighting back at her.

The lighting hit and I heard her scream out in pain. I flew up towards her and released beams of energy into the sky. The energy parted the clouds before shooting back down and hitting her dead on. She fell a bit before regaining her composure. "Psy imposion." I said.

As I said that my blood shot up to my eyes and made them extremely bloodshot. I looked at Nina and when she looked up at me she screamed out in pain. Then she exploded into millions of tiny pieces and I floated back down to earth crying out the blood that was stuck in my eyes. I landed and the other three walked over to me. "The guy disappeared in a puff of black smoke." She said.

"It is because I killed his master."

I wiped away the tears of blood. "Right, this desert is making me very hot and sweaty, not to mention that I am ginger and fair skinned so I do not bode well in desert climates. We need to find shelter now." I said in a real leader like tone.

"There is the Nu Mou village of Maldeera not far from here." Darkness said. "They know me and Irvine and are friendly towards us, I'm sure they can put us up for a night or two."

"Right, well can you transport us there."

"No, there is a block they put up; it is only a mile or so away. It won't take us long to reach it."

"Lead on then."

With that said we walked towards to village and hopefully some water.

**

* * *

**

**A/N: Right, I'm going to leave it here for now since it is 2am and I am shattered. The next chapter will probably be written by DoE and will explain quite a few things.**


	10. Non mortem timemus

DoE is text heavy ...

**

* * *

Non mortem timemus, sed cogitationem mortis**

* * *

As we cross the barrier into Maldeera I feel it tickle across my skin, like walking through a wall of static and I can almost physically _feel_ Irvine perk up behind me. Looking back I watch Reaper and Aeris walk across the threshold too, outside Aeris is looking slightly grey and holding on to her master's arm almost until her knuckles turn white but once she enters her face relaxes and the colour returns to her skin. Reaper also perks up slightly.

I quietly scold myself for not noticing earlier. Jagd is of course land saturated with pure chaotic energy in the form of mist. Aside from disrupting the function of sky stone it also makes teleportation impossible for anyone, of course since conjuration is technically teleporting reinforcements in from the dark realm the sort of necromancer who relies on armies of the dead is substantially weakened. Then again, the connection to your servant is also numbed and necromancers with weak blood (i.e.: poor blood magic) or a poor relationship with their servant will have their servants unsummoned after only an hour in even a mild Jagd. Of course they are in bad shape after crossing as much desert as we have.

But, you may wonder, how can crystals work in Jagd? I wondered that for a long time too, crystals bring order to a small radius about themselves and in that area teleportation via the crystals works normally. It took me a long time but I learned how to spread order of my own about myself and live normally in Jagd ... I was extending a safe zone to Reaper and Aeris when we got here, but after the fight I kinda spaced out and let them walk a mile in Jagd unprotected. I feel bad, but what's done is done.

The city of Maldeera is just like my own aura once you get inside, except it works for everyone not just those I have a blood sample of. The outer barrier is unfriendly, I have only teleported through it once and even then the actual passage through the barrier hurt more than the tremendous blood sacrifice it took to get me through. But inside it is paradise for anyone who can sense magic. Thousands of Nu Mou live here, a huge aggregation of Ivalice's most magically inclined race, and that many minds bent to the task of learning more about every field of mist manipulation turns the crippling chaos of uncontrolled energy that makes Jagd hell into a surging and controlled well of power that feels like a warm bath for my brain every time I enter.

The cruel barrier stops invasion and entry by teleportation, as if being in the middle of Jagd Helje weren't enough, but inside the ambient magic is so intense and so well ordered that teleportation is easier than walking, in fact newcomers often have to spend an afternoon learning not to accidentally teleport to any place that happens to cross their minds. Inside the city the world's greatest black, white, red, blue, and time mages as well as sages, alchemists, hermetics and runeseeksers, all spend lifetimes pushing the cutting edge of magical knowledge. There is even talk that the famed Ultima spell was first cast by a mortal in this town.

All this makes the town perfect for me, neither necromancers nor exorcists can easily approach, without my ability to teleport into Jagd even getting as close as we walked from is impossible. As tired as any traveller will be before entering the village I usually have a day or more to consider my plans before they finish resting up enough to start looking for me. Irvine likes it here too, he almost bounces with each step.

* * *

"So tomorrow we will head back out the way we came and wait for the sniper and the assassin to pass on their way here. We'll be getting up early so make sure you have a good meal and get plenty of sleep," so saying I rise from the table along with Irvine and we begin to head off for a meal in private and some other activities that should guarantee we sleep well.

"WHAT?" Reaper looks angry...

"...Meal ... as in food, not just water like you've been drinking since we got here. Sleep ... what you do in the bedroom when you pass out from sexual exhaustion."

"What do you mean back the way we came?"

"Oh that? The Amalaric sniper and the seraphic assassin are approaching from that direction. They should reach the town an hour or two before noon but we want to hit them before they can get inside the barrier and top up their mana," I know what's coming but something compels me to answer in a way that should make him angry. I don't really understand it myself.

"Then why the bloody hell did we come this way?"

"Ok ... you may be able to fight a high ranked exorcist right after a six hour forced march but I cannot," I choose not to mention that much further than we walked today in the desert with his complexion and build would probably kill him if he didn't change his attire at least a little, "So we are going to rest. Then we are going to get up before the sun is in the sky and head out to some rock formations I spotted on our way here and take cover there once it gets hot. We will wait in the shade with a decent supply of water for our targets to approach and when they get to us they will be fucked from walking for twelve hours from the edge of the Jagd, the closest point to us they could teleport to, and from having to keep their seraphs physical for all that journey – exorcists' servants aren't materialised full time like ours and they have to use mana to give them a physical body – and they will have spent the last six or more hours under the beating sun.

"Unlike you I can't just up and fight an exorcist to the death ok? But if we change things up so that I'm rested and he's tired, so that I have the advantage of ambush and so that his servant and many of his powers are weakened by being in Jagd and mine are not ... then I can kill an exorcist. Apologies for not being a living god among necromancers like you," I turn and huff off. Really I should apologise for that, I don't know why I'm having a tantrum but it really isn't his fault, especially since I goaded him into asking those questions in the first place.

Despite my own confused state Reaper is on the ball and doesn't miss a thing, "You aren't affected by Jagd?"

"... yeah ... I plan to extend that to you too during the battle. But I need some of your blood to synchronise with on the day so that I don't accidentally make our enemies immune to Jagd as well. The spell will last about twenty minutes after I cast it, then the blood you give me will lose its potency and you will either have to get back within my aura or fight with all the weaknesses associated with Jagd."

Reaper is looking at me now, calculating in a way that he wasn't previously. He has always looked down on me as so much weaker he couldn't be affected by me but now he is actively evaluating me, "I see. It makes sense now, someone like me – I can kill exorcists so they recognise that I'm a danger but there are only a few like me, even if it is a tragedy to them when I kill one I'm not even denting their true numbers. But you can make it possible for other necromancers to kill an exorcist and there are a lot more normal necromancers," at first I think he might be praising me, but his voice is bitter with a sad memory and he seems to have genuine anger in his eye, "don't do that. That is what lead to the last great slaughter of necromancers, my army rose up and we attacked, then we got recognised in the way you will be if you keep going down this path. There are only three survivors out of hundreds of us and there is only one of you to begin with."

* * *

Irvine and I eat in silence, I worry about what reaper said and Irvine worries about me. Reaper's words haunt me, am I really setting myself up for such a big fall? I always thought that the reason I was number one wanted by HOLY MOTHER was that I had escaped them so embarrassingly and so publicly on so many occasions ... but if Reaper was right they might see me as potentially more than a public embarrassment ... and if we kill two of their most elite tomorrow...

Quietly I begin to wonder if letting it be known that Reaper is doing the actual killing will make things better or worse. On one hand if HOLY MOTHER thinks I did that alone it will add to my existing reputation and put me in a lot more danger, but if they think the same way Reaper thinks they are then letting them know I can extend those dangerous powers to others might make things a thousand times worse. My mind is so heavy with those thoughts I don't taste much of the dinner.

Outwardly Irvine is his normal playful and flirtatious self, chatting happily with me and letting his feeling show openly now that we are alone, even going so far as to 'casually' brush some of my more sensual places as we dine. But under that I can see worry, he wants me to calm down and he's worried that if I spend too much time focussing on what reaper said I might not be at my best during the battle tomorrow and he's risking being seen as someone who only wants sex to take my mind off it. It strikes me that he would rather be eternally unhappy serving a me who didn't love him than allow me to die because I loved him too much to act properly. Likewise he would rather me think him nothing but a sex toy if that meant I lived on.

Despite myself a feeling of love fills my chest and I put aside my concerns to put on a strong face for the one I love and I plan to live life as we two always have – each day as it comes.

* * *

Reaper has declined my offer to get some better desert clothing, saying that, as long as he finishes up before my anti-Jagd enchantments wear off, the minor energy consumption to keep him from feeling the effects of the desert sun will affect his fighting ability less than trying to fight in unfamiliar clothes, especially the long garments suited for the desert. Quietly I approve of his decision, not that t is really my place to tell an A-class how to fight. It's been roughly six hours since we reached the outcropping and the presence of two exorcists has reached my attention, they should reach us in fifteen more minutes.

Reaper finishes a quiet re-scan of the area and reports his findings, "There are only the three presences, I can tell they are all very powerful. How can you be sure these are the ones we want? If they were sent by HOLY MOTHER to take us in there should be a squad of four exorcists as standard, that means eight presences if they were forced to materialise their seraphim to travel through the Jagd. The truth is that the fact that there are an odd number of presences worries me more than the small number."

I offer a humourless grin before explaining properly, "True, if they were after you there would be a full squad because it would be a mission. But I went to Maldeera alone yesterday, the word that got out and attracted them was that I was there alone. They've been hunting for me in Jagds all over the world for over a year now and after my escape the battle between me and the Snip-sin team is rather more personal than professional. They probably neglected to report my presence to their superiors and came alone, they've been travelling through Jagd for about fifteen hours by now after all so they have been out of contact with HOLY MOTHER and haven't got word that you are in the area yet. That said, once word got out that you are here too it must have become an official mission and there will have been a team dispatched to get you, but you didn't get into Maldeera until about six hours after I was seen there so logically we will have at least that long before the squads dispatched to get you get here."

"Wow, you really know how to set out a plan don't you," Aeris sounds strongly impressed.

Irvine however wastes no time correcting her, "No, not really. This is the first time I've ever seen her go into a situation with a plan other than 'see what happens and then do something'."

"Oh, gee. Thanks _love_, anything else you want to say to make a fool of me in public?"

"Hmm, there _was_ something. But I don't remember what it is, can I let it go for now and make a fool of you later when I remember what it was?" Irvine's eyes are full of laughter but he manages to keep a straight face somehow.

"I'm still worried by the fact that there are three presences rather than two or four," _sigh, _Reaper's mind never seems to leave the job at hand. Then again I doubt he will be properly happy again until he gets revenge for the death of his student.

"That is the very best proof that it's the ones we seek. Those presences are undeniably abnormal, there is no way they could be normal travellers. But three? If they were necromancers there would always be the presence of one servant for every necromancer so they can't be. The same goes for almost every exorcist in existence since this is Jagd and if they un-summon their seraphim they would be unable to bring them back. But there is one exorcist in existence who has his seraphim summoned at all times and even when in its fully summoned state that summon doesn't have any presence beyond the visual unless he commands it to. That exorcist is the Seraphic assassin and the one he _always_ travels with is his brother and partner, the Amalaric sniper. Thus we can be sure it is our targets that approach.

"The truth is that I would much rather be fighting the sniper since the assassin wont be as weakened by having his seraph summoned for so long and I'll be losing one of my favourite advantages. But since you have your own personal reasons for wanting the Sniper specifically he is yours," our conversations are sporadic and just this much has taken us too long, the pair are nearing our location by the time I finish my explanation, "very well, they will be here in five minutes, if I leave casting the anti-Jagd spell till they get any closer they will sense us and we lose the ambush," I hold out one hand expectantly.

With a small silver knife Reaper slits his pinkie and drains enough blood to fill a small phial before stoppering it and passing it over to me, I pass a hand over it and utter the words. Blood magic doesn't use incantations to have its effects but spirit magic can have quite long passages needed to unlock its power and this spell requires both, blood to give Reaper the same benefits he would receive if he was sitting within my anti-Jagd aura and spirit to make the blood conduct the power over the distance separating us.

_Consimilis mihi, consimilis tibi._

_Concordia res parvae crescent._

"There it is done, until the potency of your sample runs out any magic affecting this vial will affect you, no matter where you are. Original blood art: the broken road."

I don't wait for Reaper to comment, the spell I set up could easily be used to betray him if I were to, for example, cast a killing spell on it he would die. The truth is that I lied to get him to accept the anti-Jagd aura because him dying against the exorcists puts me in as much trouble as if I killed him, I have no intention of using this method to harm him in any way but most necromancers would never trust a spell like this in the hands of another. I just want to leave before I can see the mistrust painted on his face.

* * *

For a moment everything is going well, Reaper and I have both teleported into place, within close combat range of the brothers and between then. We are supposed to attack with vicious melee strikes to force them apart and engage them separately. But the assassin is smiling.

"Qui omnes insidias timet in nullas incidit," the seraphic assassin stands easily my height and smiles beatifically into my face as he makes his pronouncement. Of course I pause a moment trying to figure out what the hell he said, like most necromancers I only know enough Latin to remember incantations.

Irvine isn't so easily distracted and he unleashes a round into the chest of the Amalaric sniper's seraph, the divine titan barely sways as the blood magic enhanced rounds slam into his face, but he topples from his feet when Aeris adds a staff strike to the mix. Reaper begins to gather energy for a spell but is cut off by the sniper who is kneeling.

"Dies Irae."

Beams of blinding light descend from the sky and strike each exorcist in turn, both exorcists are bowed on one knee, heads bent in prayer. The seraph of the sniper, a blonde man's head at the centre of a ring of five limbs regains his balance and the wounds Irvine inflicted begin to close before our eyes. Behind the assassin his seraph hovers as though a barely visible ghost, named the seventh holy scripture and a famous figure in her own right, a former exorcist who lost her powers and gave her life willingly in a holy ceremony to create a weapon for future exorcists, bows her head in rapture as the light bathes her and a look of ecstasy crosses her beautiful, transparent face.

Then comes our turn, the holy light turns on we necromancers as a group and the pain is like nothing I have ever felt in my life. I can actually feel parts of myself falling away as I crumble, bloodlessly, as though I were made of stone. To my right Irvine is similarly afflicted and to my left Aeris is going down as well. I can't turn far enough to see what has become of Reaper but I begin to despair, even with everything I have set up to give us the advantage it looks like we are going to fall. Apparently even for the mighty Reaper defeating a dozen exorcists is one thing, defeating the two strongest elites of the organisation is another.

"_NON TIMETIS MESSOR!"_

I don't know what happened. One moment there was pain, the next Reaper's voice screaming an incantation I don't recognise, now both the assassin and the sniper are far from us, split up on opposite sides and the pain and damage are both gone from my body. Reaper is charging toward his target and I don't have time to find out what he did. Instead I remember my place in the plan and pull out another of my original spells, I use almost none of the spells listed in the necromancer's book, after all if everyone knows them then everyone knows _about_ them, and making your own spells _is_ one of the basics of being considered a decent spell caster of any type. The spell I cast is the folded path, another stepping stone on my path to anti-Jagd capability that I keep because it is occasionally useful.

The spell is yet another teleport, from when I hoped to defeat Jagd with mere momentum, it begins with a short hop and then follows immediately with a much larger one in the hope that the added impetus might help me breach anti-teleportation fields. It wasn't enough to get me into Jagd, but when my first hop puts me close enough to the Seraphic assassin to touch him I do so, and the tremendous momentum of the second step breaches his natural resistance to forced teleportation and puts us so far from Reaper that I cannot sense his opponent at all, without the vial of his blood I'd not be able to sense him at all either.

After all this time I finally take the time to look carefully at my adversary. The seraphic assassin is one of the few men to stand tall enough to look me in the eye rather than the nipples without neck strain, mind you as a 'pure and noble' exorcist I guess he would be high and mighty enough to avoid it anyway. As always (it seems to me) he is not wearing the armour that most people associate with the soldiers of HOLY MOTHER, but after a moment's thought I realise that I am almost always confronted by exorcists deep in Jagd, of course they would opt for normal cloth strengthened by magic rather than a ton of steel if they had to carry it this far.

Behind him the ethereal face of the spirit of the seventh Holy Scripture gazes at me with neither fear nor complacency. She simply regards me as an enemy and looks upon me exactly as a warrior should, neither slowed by fear nor made weak by arrogance she is prepared to fight me with her all but not at all touched by the thought I might defeat her.

My moment of thought is cut off as we all begin to move, Irvine fires a round of blood ammo designed to strike spirits at seven and she gracefully sidesteps it. I enchant a pair of bullets with the standard necromancer blood sword spell, when I fire it is as though I have grown a pair of katar and I strike out at the seraphic assassin immediately with my fastest series of strokes. The assassin evades me as easily as his seraph evades Irvine, slipping from side to side and occasionally slapping my weapons away with a hand placed casually in the flat of my blade.

I have to pull of some other method to strike him down apparently, now while he still doesn't admit that I can be a threat, if he had the same attitude of non-underestimation as his seraph I wouldn't stand a chance.

"Omnes mortis paribus! Mundus finis."

The fountain of ice shrieks into existence where the assassin stands ... stood. As the massive ice spell forms and then shatters everything in the area the seraphic one skips backward outside the range. Too bad for him but that is in my plan too, I utilise ground contractor, more of a fast movement technique than true teleportation it has a faster 'entry' and 'exit' (that is to say cast time and 'figuring out just where the hell you've teleported to' time) than many of my other original movement spells, but can only be use to cross relatively flat ground. Arms crossed and ready for a dual slash reminiscent of Roanoa Zoro himself I appear right in the assassin's face.

Somehow he is able to react at this speed and it is clear that his fist will reach my face long before my blades are even close to him. But I'm not done yet, my legs have collapsed under me almost before I finish my movement technique and his fist sails over my head and my own blow continues to be unleashed, at this rate I might manage to take his feet off.

Of course that is false hope too, against the most elite of the exorcists even this manoeuvre is for naught and in the time my blow moves from a quarter of the way to the target to the halfway point he has hopped slightly and taken to the air. But I'm not done either, I _will not_ underestimate him, he is one half of HOLY MOTHER's strongest duo, once more I utilise one of my subtle variations on teleportation, this time it is the broken road again and I appear mid-air behind my target, he has jumped backward and his head is moving right toward my strike, even if he has a feat of prodigious evasion and gets away he should at least be cut a little. If I can wound him slightly he might become cautious and allow me to hold him off long enough for Reaper to come and save me.

"Seven."

His voice is calm, like ice and as smooth as honey. There is no worry in his tone, as though he is still underestimating me ... or perhaps as though he was never underestimating me, as though I really was so little of a threat to him. Garbed now in the robes of a priest rather than the robes he travelled here in he raises one arm and my blades shatter against his sleeve. As I fall to the ground in shock he stops me from landing on my feet by the expedient of slamming an uppercut into my stomach so hard I never reach the sand beneath my feet.

He removes his hand and I fall to the ground, my pistols also tumble from my weakened grip, just like the blood swords that once came from them, and my vision blurs until my enemy is only a dark-ish smear.

"When seven takes the physical form of armour no attack of dark and bloody nature can pierce her weave." He holds one gloved hand in front of my wavering vision and I can tell that his priest's robe really is the seventh Holy Scripture manifested in the form of holy armour.

From behind comes the loud bark of Irvine's shotgun, of course – if seven was manifested as armour then Irvine has nothing left to fight and can come to my aid.

"Hmph," the assassin seems truly unimpressed and raises one gloved hand to swat away the incoming bullet. The look on his face is priceless when his much boasted armour does nothing and his hand is blown clean off.

"Then I had best use AP ammo. After all it isn't made by dark magic and it ignores defensive manoeuvres anyway," Irvine is grimly pleased with the results until there is a blaze of holy light and the exorcist's hand is restored.

"But without using a blood attack you cannot prevent me from healing," the exorcist is disgustingly aloof, as though even with our combined powers managing to wound him we are bellow even his notice, "I believe it is my turn again."

Faster than I can see, possibly even in less time than it would take me to teleport the distance, seven is no longer a suit but a tremendous gun, held underhand and with a huge barrel complimented by a pneumatically driven steel stake. The stake is through Irvine's chest already and he is being pushed back. But as he is forced backward he smiles through the blood staining his teeth and leaking from his mouth, he grasps the sides of the gun and lets blood run from him to it. In response white hot holy energy makes its way back to him.

"You've made a mistake your holiness, now you can't take your weapon away from me."

"Take it away?" the exorcist's voice is just as ironic as Irvine's, but sounds much more pleased, "But my assault is just beginning. Vespior!"

Suddenly the huge weapon begins to chant the machine gun song of death and with each shot a hole the size of a fist opens in Irvine's chest, on the other side of his body the bullets turn back into the pages of holy scripture they are formed from, my soul cringes at the thought of such a strong holy element striking as dark a body as that of my love. I am numb and lost as the light fades from Irvine's eyes and the assassin stops firing. I can only stare in mute horror as the irritated gunman tried to tear my lover's remains from the end of his weapon. But when he realises that they are still tightly bound by Irvine's blood magic and begins tearing away chunks of the upper body to free his weapon as much as possible something in me stirs. When he rips Irvine's hands – still bonded to the sides of the gun barrel – from his wrists my rage and grief begin to force me to my feet. When he begins ripping Irvine's lower body apart so that only the parts of his abdomen directly bonded to the stake remain the fact that, as a necromancer, I can raise Irvine again doesn't matter in the face of my pain at his loss.

I hold out a hand to the turned back of my most hated enemy and cast without speaking, _consimilis mihi, consimilis tibi._ My left hand slowly begins to glow green and when a matching green glow forms in his chest the exorcist turns to face me in shock. When a blood sword in my right hand swings and sends the left hand flying through the air the Seraphic assassin begins to dash toward me, too late to stop me finishing this spell. When my blood sword cuts my free falling hand in halves on the backswing the assassin stops mid-stride as his heart suffers the same fate. Curiously, as his body falls to the sandy red soil of Jagd Helje and blood bubbles from his mouth I don't feel anything, perhaps with my love gone I never will again. Perhaps I never will feel aught but my loss. Evermore.

As her master hits the ground the seventh Holy Scripture reverts to her true form and tries to flee. Rumour among the necromancers is silent on what a seraph does following its master's death, after all so few of us ever see a necromancer die. But logically most would return to some sub-realm waiting to be summoned by an exorcist in a later generation, logically – since seven was artificially created – she will return to the headquarters of HOLY MOTHER to be assigned to a new recruit.

_NO!_

Her part in Irvine's death was equal to her master's. Why should she be allowed to return safely?

My voice is numb as I chant and rather than any sort of vengeance I feel only that Irvine wont be here even if I do this but that at least those who took him from me will not be happy for it, "Undecim spiritus obscuris, undecim spiritus tenebris, undecim spiritus nocturnis, undecim spiritus consimilis."

My voice filled with wrath I send out thirty three spirits to surround my prey, eleven each of darkness, shadow and night, in my only hand I hold the remaining eleven spirits of similarity, they form the shape of seven entrapped by a net. Blood streams from my severed stump to form a matching net around the seraph by joining the dots of the spirits surrounding her. Then it is done, the net in my hand becomes real and the raging entrapped seraph goes calm, whereas her tiny double in the palm of my hand struggles and shakes the bars of her cage in fury.

With grim pleasure I form a chain of magic to sit the tiny cage about my neck as a necklace. The great achievement of the exorcists – a completely man made seraph – is now in the hands of a necromancer, her body and power bound to forever obey my commands while her will and consciousness writhe and struggle inside a piece of jewellery. Somehow even this is nothing to Irvine not being there.

I turn and stumble toward where I left Reaper fighting, I don't care that I don't have the energy left to teleport. I don't even care that I will probably pass out before I get even a part of the way there. I don't even care that if my allies don't find me before the vial of his blood loses its potency they will probably not be able to sense me out before I die out in this desert.

It's remarkable how little seems to matter to me without Irvine.

**

* * *

A/N: author's notes – Daughter of Ether version (i.e.: I get to rant now!)**

* * *

Firstly – yes Ann realises that since Irvine is an immortal servant she can just summon him back. But this is the first time he has 'died' and she is a lot more attached to him than other necromancers are to their servants so the thought hasn't occurred to her yet.

To munchin – haha and avast! Have fun writing your own fight chapter, you'll notice I kinda copped out on account of my fight scenes suck so yours better make up for the lack of good fight scenes coming from my end of this partnership. No pressure though :D. Other story notes will be pm-ed to keep it a surprise for the readers.

To Gale – haha! This one is jam packed with references just for you man since we are playing the reference game. They are all to animes and games I know you've seen before. Of course anyone else is welcome to point out or otherwise enjoy my references and cameos too.

TRANSLATIONS! (and spell descriptions where appropriate)

Disclaimer: I speak Japanese well enough to represent my uni to visiting diplomats so anyone who bags my Latin had best be able to at least order movie tickets next time they visit ancient Rome. Not that I really did much more than quote my Latin form other places.

_Non mortem timemus, sed cogitationem mortis_ – It is not death we fear, but the thought of death. Our wonderful and original chapter title! Taken from yuni – quotes for all occasions.

_Consimilis mihi, consimilis tibi._ – Roughly 'the same for me as for you'. Thrown together from my own Latin knowledge and probably wrong. A spell to link the fates of two objects, either to allow me to aid my ally from afar as I do with Reaper or to bypass external defences as I do in my rage to the seraphic assassin. Requires either a focus with strong attachment for the target (Reaper's blood) or tremendous personal sacrifice (my hand).

_Concordia res parvae crescent._ – Work together to accomplish more. Taken from yuni. Not really part of the spell, just me wishing a team mate well.

_Qui omnes insidias timet in nullas incidit_ – He who fears every ambush is caught in none. Yuni again.

_Dies Irae_ – Lit: day of wrath. Judgement day. A spell that calls down holy light to judge each present in turn, heals the pious and ... does something to the unholy. I haven't decided what but it will probably have to be based on what munchin makes of the next spell. From Yuni.

_Non timetis messor_ – don't fear the reaper. One of my all time favourite sayings and a very trite custom spell for Reaper, how could I resist. But I have rather cruelly left it to munchin to decide what the spell does (and by extension how it saved us from Dies Irae, and from that what Dies Irae was actually doing to us). If you don't want to deal with that munchin I can take it out and re-write the section

_Omnes mortis paribus! Mundus finis._ – 'To all things an equal death. End of the world'. If anyone other than Gale can guess who I stole this spell from they win extra special biscuits. Creates a huge (although for me a lot smaller than the original caster's version) bloom of ice, which can either be left to hold the target indefinitely (as long as the magic lasts) or shattered to utterly destroy it. Thus providing two possible definitions for the end of the world. If you play fire emblem then you can think of my much less powerful version as being roughly the size of the spell Fimublvettr.

_Undecim spiritus obscuris, undecim spiritus tenebris, undecim spiritus nocturnis, undecim spiritus consimilis_ – eleven spirits of darkness, eleven spirits of shadow, eleven spirits of night, eleven spirits of similarity. Summoning the spirits I used to separate seven's will from her body and power and to bind her to my will in the pendant of a necklace. I rather like it actually since the pendant resembles a net more than a cage and the tiny woman figure in it struggles and writhes eternally.

Travel spells – while I was trying to overcome Jagd but before I came to the revelation about the crystals I made a whole bunch of transport spells. Some of them were good enough to keep. The broken road – allows teleportation by fracturing space and putting two fragments together that don't match for an instant, more of a portal type skill than teleportation, requires user to be moving. The folded path – a mix of broken road style portal movement and proper teleportation (where you are in one place and you are suddenly in another), the first step bends reality until the ground you are on and the ground you want to be on are next to one another, then you have to step between them. After this portal type movement you use the huge momentum you gain to let a true teleport skill take place, typically you go about fifteen times as far in the second step and the teleport will have enough force to break through most anti-spell barriers or force a resisting target to teleport with you. The folded path is quick to start but because of its nature it takes a slightly longer time that most teleports for anyone teleported to regain their bearings and be able to fight. Ground contractor – another one Gale should know and the rest win prizes for guessing right. A shunpo style fast movement rather than teleportation or portaling, the user drops into the stream of earth chi moving in the right direction and pops out again when they reach the destination. Much less time to start and stop the manoeuvre than proper teleportation skills but you can only travel in a straight line and only over flat ground. None of these spells are as powerful as the spell Ann uses to get into or out of Jagd, which is capable of travelling the hundreds of kilometres between cities rather than at best five kilometres like her other skills, her big spell, with a big enough blood sacrifice, can breach even the toughest barriers, cross multiple Jagd-normal land interfaces and cover any distance in Ivalice. Of course the more she tries to do the bigger the sacrifice. It also doesn't stop piercing the barriers from hurting – a lot.

And now we have the end of the longest authors note in the history of mankind. Thankyou for your time.


	11. Sed cogitationem mortis

**Sed cogitationem mortis  
**

**

* * *

**

The holy light flies towards us and hits us all in turn. Darkness was the first to drop to her knees, than Irvine and Aeris followed suit. The light hit me and I felt pain shoot up and down my body. The fact that I actually felt the pain showed how powerful the attack was. I saw Darkness look towards Irvine and than Aeris; she had a look of immense pain and despair. I walked forward and stood just to the left of Darkness. "NON TIMETIS MESSOR!" I yelled.

This spell is unlike any of the other spells I have created. It is an illusion spell; in the eyes of the enemy it makes me look demonic and powerful. They will stop whatever they are doing as it paralyzes the enemy with fear. The enemy will run in fear from me and refuse to attack me head on. It is quite an easy spell to pull off but when cast on an Exorcist the level of concentration and Mana it takes is not worth it. I would only use it on an Exorcist if I had no other choice as it wears off after a few seconds on them.

I ran towards the Sniper before he had a chance to recover. I drew my katana back and hit him with my shooting star technique (Auron's second overdrive from FFX). I grew a pair of wings made out of blood and flew after him. As I approached he spun around and drop kicked me. I fell back down to the ground and hit it hard. My head was a little dizzy but returned to normal almost immediately. As soon as the smoke cleared I walked out of the creator that my impact had made. I had my guns drawn and as soon as I saw the sniper I opened fire. He dodged the bullets with ease and once my ammo ran dry he ran towards me. He went to kick me and I dropped my guns and blocked the attack with my sword. I flipped him backwards and than sliced him across the back. He fell down to the ground but as soon as he hit the floor he spun around and tripped me up. I jumped up but couldn't find him anywhere. I heard a whistling sound and I turned around to see an arrow flying towards me. I grabbed the arrow before it hit me and as I grabbed it there was this searing pain throughout my whole arm. I dropped the arrow when another one hit me in the shoulder. I fell to my knees and screamed out in pain.

"Not too smart or fast are you?" he said appearing behind me.

I removed the arrow while ignoring the pain and I spun around and stabbed him in the heart with it. I stood up as he dropped to his knees. A black aura waved over my shoulder and healed my wound. I began to walk away when he started laughing.

"Do you really think one of my own arrows could kill me? They are infused with holy power, that stuff heals me." He laughed standing up. "Do you really think I would die so easily?"

"You are stronger than I thought but that arrow will not heal you, you will continue to bleed from that wound. I put a lot of dark magic into that arrow." I said turning to face him.

We just stood there glaring at each other. He was the one to make the first move. He ran towards me and about halfway he held up his hand and cast a gravity spell but I moved from where I was standing. I ran to my left while letting rip a couple of fire spells. I jumped behind a rock and summoned my sword towards me. I closed my eyes and a dark aura appeared around me.

The ground began to shake and the whole area moved. In places the ground collapsed in on itself and in others the ground rose. Once the spell was finished it looked like a maze. Right away I set about making traps. I jumped from one area to the next setting up sensor orbs with all sorts of magic inside them. Sensor orbs are sort of like mines. They have a short range sensor radius of 5 meters and when anything other than a Necromancer enters that area they explode releasing a lot of magic. I head footsteps coming from behind me so I jumped up out of the maze and landed in the clearing in the middle. I set up sensor orbs next to all three of the entrances to the area. I then sent up a flare spell to let him know where I was. I powered up and waited was waiting for the Exorcist when a blade went through my back and out of my stomach, and it fucking hurt like hell. The sword was removed and I turned around. I fell to the floor in pain. _Shit, even moving hurts._ I thought. I looked up and standing there was the Sniper with the sword in his hand. I felt a warm feeling in my stomach and saw that it was being healed.

_Thanks Aeris._ I thought before jumping up and slamming my fist into his face. He nose began to bleed and some of it went onto my hand. I kicked him in the chest and he went flying back into one of my sensor orbs. It exploded and released loads of ice magic freezing him where he stood. I pulled my sword back and was about to cut his head off when his servant flew at me from behind and crashed into my head. I fell to the floor and as I got up I saw it defrost he's master.

"Smart attack." He said trying to distract me while his servant came in for another strike. Once his servant got close to me I spun 'round and shot a beam of pure dark energy at it and destroyed it. He walked towards me with an angry look on his face. He raised his arm to strike me with his sword when I spoke up.

"Not too smart…" I said as a shot was heard and a bullet ripped through his shoulder. "…or fast are you?"

He went to attack me again when both of his legs were broken by an unknown force. "What? How?" he stuttered.

I lifted up a small voodoo doll of him. "It's called death puppet. When I punched you in the face some of your blood went onto my hand and with that I was able to make this little doll. If I break one of the doll's limbs then that limb will brake on you as well." I said with a smirk. "Aeris finish him off."

I turned and walked away as Aeris fired another bullet which hit his neck and severed his head from his body. I carried on walking without looking back and after a minute or so Aeris caught up with me. "Let's go and find darkness and Irvine." She said.

I looked at my watch. "We have two minutes until Darkness' spell wears off." I said.

"It's going to take longer than that to find her."

"Do you wanna fly?" I asked while growing a pair of blood wings.

Aeris put her arms around my neck and we flew up. From the sky we had a good view all around but we couldn't see her. We flew back to where we met the Exorcists. As we reached it my watch started to bleep. "Oh shit." I said.

It washed over me like a wave, first I felt a little sluggish, then my wings disappeared and I fell down to the ground. I hit the ground and tried to stand up. It took a lot of effort to do but I managed it. My power just drained out of me. "Aeris, what is going on? I knew I was going to get weaker once Darkness' spell wore off but this is ridiculous, the last time I was this weak was when I had heatstroke 5 years ago."

"It's not just the Jagd doing it to you, I feel weaker but not by that much, it might be because you took a holy arrow to the shoulder."

"You healed me after that hit."

"Not fully, you won't fully heal until we are out of the Jagd."

"How are we going to find Darkness, I can barely stand?"

I saw something move behind Aeris and I held onto her shoulder and walked past her. "Fuck. Aeris, we've got company." I said drawing out my sword.

He was almost 7 ½ feet tall, he looked old, very old, he had pure white hair and a white beard. He was wearing a white travelling cloak and he had a long staff which he used to help himself walk. "Really Reaper, are you sure you can use that thing?" He said in a way a father speaks to his child.

"Well Baranna (Bar-ran-a) I will try." I said.

"How about trying to stand up on your own first?"

"Shit, if Baranna's here, we'll need to run or do something stupid like summon the demons." Aeris whispered into my ear.

"Aeris my dear, the demons cannot attack me. I have enough angels watching out of me to stop them."

"Think of something fast Jamie." Aeris whispered a bit harshly.

"I want you back Reaper, I want you hunting for me again."

"No."

"Why not, you know you will die if you don't, it is the same as last time I asked."

"Except this time I am not afraid of death, I am ready to embrace it. Give me your best shot."

Once I finished talking a black aura surrounded me and Aeris. We both floated into the air and black beams of aura shot out of my back and hit Aeris in her stomach and chest. Black storm clouds covered the previously clear sky in seconds and Aeris floated towards me. She was now only millimetres away and once we touched there was a huge explosion sending Baranna flying away and my body absorbed Aeris. Claws started to grow on my hand and feet replacing my fingers and toes. Massive black wings erupted from my back, my eye turned a blood red colour, my skin had gone from a very pale colour to as black as charcoal, my hair grew in length until it was down to my wings and had gone blood red, and I had grown a tail, it was black in colour but shone a bright red at the end. I felt so powerful, it was like nothing I had ever felt. It felt like I could crush the very planet but it was only the tip of the iceberg. I felt the power of the universe inside me, it felt like I could do anything, beat anybody.

I shot up into the air and pass the clouds before letting out a deafening roar. I shot back down parting the clouds on the way and shot towards Baranna like a bullet. He jumped out of the way and a created a creator almost half a mile wide when I hit the floor. I stood up and looked at him. He threw off his cloak and powered up himself. He power level shot up and surpassed mine, he grew a pair of angel wings and if you looked closely it looked like he had grown a little bit and decreased his age. He fired a holy beam at me and I disappeared and reappeared above him. I swiped with my claws but he was gone. I felt a foot connect with the back of my head and I flew forward. I could feel him chasing after me so I powered up an ice attack in my hand and spun 'round and slammed it into his face.

All ten of my claws grew in size to about a foot long and I started to swipe at him. He kept on dodging but I managed to hit him a few time. As I was attacking he grabbed hold of one of my arms and started to spin me. He spun me faster and faster and then rocks shot up from the ground and I crashed into every one of them but he continued to spin me. Whilst he was spinning me I powered up a fire spell and set my arms alight. He let go of me instantly and I went spinning away until he flew up to me and dropkicked me into the ground. I stood up and dusted myself down. "Midnight shadow." I said.

A faint black smoke appeared over my body and an eye shaped tattoo one my back glowed. I felt pure hatred, anger, all the dark emotions spread over from my heart and all over my body. As it reached the tips of my body thousands of tiny black orbs shot out of my body from my wings, claws, eyes, and mouth. They left my body from everywhere. They flew towards Baranna and he tried to dodge them but the followed him. It was like they had a mind of their own because they anticipated where he was going and collided with his body when they got there. Once every single one of them had hit him I felt all the good emotions like happiness and love come back to me.

"Impressive move, I remember Michael tried to use that spell against me just before he died. I was under the impression only he could do it." Baranna said painfully.

"He is the only person able to use it. He used it on me once and I stored the spell."

"So you cannot use it again, it is a shame to see such a powerful spell die away, lost for all eternity."

I flew towards and fired every elemental spell you can find, fire, ice, thunder, you name it, I threw it at him. He took all of the hits and he still didn't look even slightly fazed. He raised his hand and seven balls of holy energy appeared around me before flying up into the sky. I looked at him about to laugh when white beams of holy energy shot down and hit me causing an explosion of holy magic. That shit hurt like hell but I was still fighting, I kept a straight face, I didn't want him to see how much that hurt me. I fired a beam of dark energy at him and he fired a beam of holy towards me. They connected in the middle of the battlefield causing a huge explosion and disintegrating a lot of the ground leaving a massive hole. He flew up and did a little spin before his wings glowed and shot out hundreds of beams of holy energy (Like Alexander from FF9). They all hit me and I fell down to the ground.

That attack had really weakened me and I had almost no power let. From having the power of the universe to nothing in a couple of hits. That is why he is the leader of the Exorcists, he is too fucking strong, nobody can match him in power. "Reaper." I heard somebody say from behind me as I sat on the floor.

_Shit_ was all I could think before Baranna spoke up. "So this is the girl you travel with? I surprised. She doesn't seem as strong as Kaylee, or anybody else you have travelled with before." Baranna said with a perverted grin.

"You will be surprised; since she is standing here she must have killed the seraphic assassin."

"I did it Reaper, what about the Sniper and who is this?"

"Dead and this is Baranna. He is the leader of the Exorcists."

I walked up to her. She could barely stand; it looked like she was suffering from dehydration. "Darkness look at me. I want you to find Soul and Switchblade; they are old war buddies of mine. They will look after you." I said.

"Why? What about you?"

"He is too strong, I cannot teleport both of us out of here, but I can get you out. I will send you somewhere safe."

"What about you?"

"Don't worry about me, I won't die alone, I'll take him with me. It is the only way I can get you out of here safely."

I cut open a bit of her arm and took some of her blood; with it I was able to use her teleporting skills once. I pictured Jahara and see disappeared before my eyes. "What a shame to see her go." Baranna said. "I'm sure I'll get to see her again."

_Ok Aeris, this is it. It's been fun._ I powered up all of mine and Aeris' life energy into a ball in my hands. Using the last bit of strength I had left I flew towards Baranna and shoved the ball into his chest. He started to glow a black colour then beams of black light shot out of his body and he exploded. The last thing I saw before I hit the ground was look of pain on Baranna face. I hit the floor with a smile on my face before turning into black smoke.

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**A/N: Well there you have it, the end to the sub-plot between me and DoE. Hope you enjoyed it and the main story will be starting soon.**


	12. The fall

Crack...

CRACK!

"Almost!" I said to Rinoa as we both pulled as hard as we could. You might be wondering why we are opening a hole in the ground instead of doing a summon ritual. Very few people know how to do one right, I haven't found anyone who can. But I do know a lot about it. So I came up with a way to open a hole to hell. When it's big enough demons will be free to swarm out as they like. It would have to be the most stupidest thing to do. They only way to close it again is dump a, say, mountain load of rock on top of it.

I looked over to the hole to see a clawed hand burst out of the small hole making it bigger. "BLOOD!" It yelled clawing at the stone around it. "Almost!" I said again giving it all I could. With one mighty crack the hole suddenly shifted making a perfect circle and out of it jumped three demons who charged forward into the fury.

"Time haul ass!" I yelled blocking a slush from the latest demon to jump out. They attack anyone when you don't hold them by a deal. I pushed back and spun slashing the beast across the chest sending it back into the hole.

"By everything holy! Keep the line! We must destroy the demons NOW!" Holesmick yelled slashing demon left and right with his sword of light. Around him his men where getting torn apart. I turned around to look back as I passed into the back door and saw Holesmick look at me with pure rage on his face.

I raced down the stone passages as the place become more and more unstable. I had already wasted far too much time to make my escape, if one of the hallways ahead had already collapsed then the only way out would be through the demons, and I didn't have time for that. Everything was slowly shacking more and more as we raced deeper into the mountain. We rounded a corner only to have the wall explode behind me.

"I will destroy you Shadow!" Holesmick said charging down the passage.

"Go," I told Rinoa before counter charging. I flecked my hand summoning a large bone snake. It shot down the tunnel toward Holesmick. He side stepped slashed rapidly at it. The head of the snake didn't move for a moment, then in fell apart all at once. But before Holesmick could celebrated two more burst out of both side of the walls. With an spin both snake were sliced in half. As that was happening I ran down the hall then lept up and jumping off the wall going into a spin kick. Holesmick ducked and spun to slash me in the back only to be blocked by my bone sword.

"This is why I chose to hunt you," Holesmick said as we circled each other, "I could have hunted and killed the last of the Necromancer army, or any of the other famous freaks out there... but I wanted the one that always comes back. A forgotten legend that only those who know there history will remember. The Lord of Necromancers. You could have turned the war in your kinds favor if you'd just helped them... To late now,"

"I am no Lord of anyone," I reply dropping my stance slightly, "And I didn't want to be part of any war!" I lurched forward rapidly zig zagging before phasing out and appearing above his head slashing down. He blocked the attack and phased out as well followed by me. I blocked an attack from behind and spun slashed only to be blocked myself. Holesmick pushed me back and I used him momentum to fly back then leap off the wall behind me to kick him in the head.

"Not good enough!" He said garbing my foot and swinging me into a wall. He shifted his weight and started to swing me the other way when I kicked him off sending us both spinning to the floor. With a quick roll I was staring at Holesmick again.

"This is why you are the best," Holesmick start, "Even when you were a lowly d rank you could still hold your own against an A with your sword skills along. No one else has three generations of training. The blood magic skills you develop along the way only make you more fearsome!"

_Run._

"Huh?" I looked around for the voice.

_Please run! Hurry!_

"Mai..." I said under my breath looking up at Holesmick just in time to block an attack. I hate to say it but he caught me off guard. He throw himself at me so I couldn't block his other blade. Holesmick stabbing it into my side and I felt it come out the other side. It hurt like hell, but was something I could heal as a Necromancer.

"It's over," He told me as we hit the ground and tumbled, "This is the end of you,"

We both rose, me slower then him. I didn't say anything back I just pulled his sword out and throw it behind me. I wanted a moment for the pain to fade, but it didn't. I looked down at my wound in alarm.

"Now you see," Holesmick stated, "No more Blood magic,"

"H...how?"

"Blessing of the seal, cut you off from the use of blood magic," Holesmick then burst into uncontrolled laughter. He effectively seal always my necromancer part... and I was bleeding to death. I felt my legs go weak and I wanted to throw up. I was going to die, after all this time I wasn't good enough...

"Get up," I heard a female voice say next to me, "This isn't the Matt I know,"

"Rinoa?" I asked slowly turn to look at the new comer. What I saw was someone wearing the exact same thing as me, only it was white. She had long brown hair tied back in a pony tail and green shining eyes. She stood with a white sword pointed toward Holesmick who in confusion.

"Mia?" I asked again getting it right this time, "...Why are...?"

"You needed help..." she answered offering me a hand. I took it and was pulled to my feet shifting so we were standing back to back. Almost instantly a black sword appeared in my hand before I turned to look at Holesmick.

"How!?" He yelled pointing to my sword, "You shouldn't be able to use blood magic!"

"You still don't understand..." I replied.

"He is a holy necromancer," Mia finished for me.

"There is no such thing! It's imposable! Unthinkable!" Holesmick ranted on getting redder and redder in the face.

"We are of the same soul," Mia and I said at he same time. "We are light and dark, although it takes long for our powers to develop we are unique in our existence,"

Holesmick took a step back. I could see his hand was shacking slightly and his eyes wide. "I didn't think the legend was true..." he mumbled, "I never understood why Holy Mother recorded you as The Holy Dark... but now..."

"Two strikes," Mia and I said at the same time. Together we lurched down the tunnel over taking each other in a blur of motion before striking at Holesmick. He managed to block the attacks, but was pushed back by the force.

"Four strikes," We said again moving down the same way, only this time we attack from four different directions. Again Holesmick managed to block and dodge each attack, but it was clear to all three of us he was only barely able to do so.

"Eight strikes,"

Holesmick rolled and blocked as we appeared and disappeared around him.

"Sixteen strikes,"

He spun around blocking attackes from all directions, ignoring the attacks that got through.

"Thirty-four strikes,"

To Holesmick, it looked as if there was more the to of as copys attack at the same time.

"Sixty-eight strikes,"

Holesmick dropped to one knee as Mia and I phased in to stand a few meters away. The walls were covered in marks and Holesmick had cuts all over him."S... such power..." he mumbled dropping his sword and falling to his hands and knees, "I failed..."

"One hundred and sixteen strikes," We said moving again. Holesmick looked up in time to see my blade meet his face. We we stopped Holesmick was sprayed all over the walls. It was a true horror I tried not to look at. Somewhere behind me a large stone fell out of the roof echoing quickly followed by more.

"You'll be alright, Rinoa is coming soon,"

"Sor...ry," I managed to reply, "I know... it's painful... to be near me..."

"I'll bear it if it means keeping you alive..."

I turned to look at my old friend, but she wasn't there. I knew she went back to earth. She belonged there, safe from the nightmares... I tried to get up by I could feel my legs or arms. "No more blood magic..." I mumbled to myself as I listened to the approaching foot falls, "I'll find a way to brake the seal..."

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A/N: So here it is, part 2 of Shadow's fall. Poor Shadow lost his blood magic. Your not a necromancer if you can't even do basic blood magic. But Shadow has been around for a hell of a long time, he'll find a way to brake the holy seal on him. And you all got to find out who Mia really is.**

**Anywho, hope you all like it.**

**Guild Member: LordShadow out.**


	13. Sealed emotion first

**Sealed Emotions, part 1**

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"Die." I said tonelessly, then I sliced my victim's throat with one smooth stroke. The sands coloured red as the man fell. I wiped the blood of the dagger I had just used, feeling as emotionless and empty as ever. I glanced behind me, to my slave, Rydia. "How many?" I asked. She frowned, thinking for a while.

"I think in total, you've killed thirty-four people now, Master."

I glared at her as she said that. She took a step back and quickly corrected herself: "Never mind that 'master'! I meant 'My Lord'!"

"Do not forget it again." I warned her tonelessly. She nodded.

"Yes ma-, eh, My Lord."

I turned around and walked away again, Rydia following me like she always did. I had commanded my slave to address me as 'My Lord' instead of Master, for I found 'Master' way too generic and common for someone like me. Such a title was beneath me, the greatest Murderer to ever walk around in Ivalice.

I don't keep track of how many days I've been here, so sorry to disappoint you with that. But I'm sure I've been here for quite a while. And in that while, I already had murdered thirty-four people. Not bad, if I do say so myself. But it was still not enough. I was beginning to be noticed by the law so far, people talking in pubs now and then about mysterious and bloody murders. But still not enough. I wanted a bounty on my head. The higher the bounty, the more people would come after me. And those people would all be my victims. I smirked ever so slightly. Yes, that would do. But I had to kill much, much more…

"Ma- I mean, My Lord?" Rydia called from behind me, I gave her a short look over my shoulder, a sign that I was listening.

"If you want head-hunters to come after you so you can kill them, wouldn't they first have to know how you look?"

"What are you getting at?"

"I'm just saying My Lord, that so far all our murders had no witnesses. How can head-hunters go after a bounty for a murderer nobody ever saw?"

"Your point being?"

"I'm just saying, maybe we should let one of our victims escape next time, be it severely injured or so, but at least then we'll get known and we'll have head-hunters, and thus victims, chasing after us." Rydia answered hesitatingly.

I stopped and turned to look at her, a slight sign of irritation on my expressionless face. "Are you asking mercy of me?"

"No My Lord!" She quickly replied. "I'm just trying to help…"

"You do have a point." I informed her. "I shall think about it. I won't let just any victim escape me… He or she needs to be special…"

I turned around and walked away again, Rydia following loyally, pleased she had been able to help, if even slightly.

Night had fallen and we had found shelter in a cave, Rydia having made a fire as usual. I sat on a rock, gazing in the flames, thinking. Rydia was asleep on the ground, naked. She said it was because the dessert air was too hot for her to keep her clothes on, but I was sure she was just trying to seduce me. Futile of her, I have no time for such behaviour, it is beneath me. I, who shall go down in history as the murderer with the greatest number of victims and the highest bounty ever on his name! Still, I appreciated the affection she was trying to give me, somewhat. I still did not understand why I had no emotions, only memories of emotions, but it didn't feel wrong to have company, be it an undead immortal slave that gets hyper as soon as you give her a compliment and sexually exited as soon as you do as much as remove a shoo to shake the sand out of it. In the time we had spend together I had come to understand that I sometimes had no choice but to give in to her sexual desires. It was either that, or let her erotic dreams keep me up at night because she was acting them out while sleeping too (I still am not sure if she really is asleep then, and not just fooling me) and hear her erotic babbling during the day. And that is hardly the behaviour the slave of a murderer should have. And so, if sacrificing one night of sleep to relieve her of her naughty desires is what it takes to keep her normal for two weeks or so, I'll have no problems doing so.

Out of the corner of my eyes, I notice Rydia starts to move. I sigh deeply and roll my eyes, a sign of clear annoyance.

"Not another erotic dream she's gonna act out." I hiss in frustration. Deciding I have no desire whatsoever to see a real life porn movie, I walk out of the cave into desert, to cool off a bit and to think. I noticed a cliff not too far away and decided to climb it. It was not that hard for me. Most of the time I spent out in the wild, preferably the deserts, so climbing desert cliffs like these are no problem at all. As I reach the top, I sit down in silence.

"Why?" I wondered aloud, my voice a mere whisper. "Why do I feel nothing? I don't even feel interest in why I feel nothing, but I still would like to know. I was an insane murderer when I left home, I am an emotionless murderer here in this world. What could have happened?" I clenched my fist in frustration. It was not that I longed to have emotions back, it was that I hated not knowing what had happened with them. They could have been drawn into hell for all I care, but I still want to know where they went. I had to find out. I was determined to find out. I sat there for a long while before finally deciding I had to go back to the cave me and my slave where camping in. I hoped that at the very least, Rydia's erotic dream would be over.

It happened a few days later. I had decided to go back to a city for a short break of our dessert wandering. This would mean bringing us closer to more public routes through the dessert, and possibly more victims for me to kill. While travelling, I was giving Rydia's idea of letting at least one of my victims escape some more thought. She was right, though it was not necessary to tell her that.

I was resting in the shadows of some palm trees, close to a river running next to the dessert. We were almost at the capital of Dalmasca. Only two more days at most and we'd be there. I was thinking about the idea of murdering some people in town, when Rydia came up to me. She had been doing something near the river all this time. Slightly curious, I looked up to her. She had a look on her face I had not seen before yet. It was dark and very, very serious. This made me even more curious.

"What is it?" I asked emotionlessly.

Rydia glanced at the river. "My Lord, I have seen something that might interest you." She walked back to the river and I, intrigued, followed her. On the other side of the river there was a small nomad village. You could see the round shapes of their houses, but the village was too far away to see any activity. As we came closer to the river, I understood what was wrong with the water. A lot of it was coloured red. Blood.

"On the other side, I can sense death there." Rydia said.

"The village?" I inquired tonelessly. She nodded.

"Let us go to the other side then." I commanded.

"How my Lord? There is no boat to carry us over."

I noticed the corpse of a crocodile-like monster nearby, looking like it had died not too long ago. Using my powers, I reanimated the corpse with my Blood Magic. I stepped on the beast and guided it into the river. I glanced at Rydia.

"What are you waiting for? A royal invitation?"

Rydia didn't waste time replying and hurried onboard.

As we neared the other shore, it became quite clear where the blood was coming from. At least ten corpses, ripped and slashed open at every possible place, laid at least partly in the water. And more were lying on the dry dessert sand, colouring the sand red.

"They were slaughtered." Rydia said, stating the obvious. I walked on, nearer to the village. I found more corpses on my way. I wondered what had done this. I felt nothing as I walked through this massacre. Yet, I wasn't too pleased with the sight either. I am a murderer, oh yes. But there's a difference between murder and slaughter. Murder is performed with grace, style, beauty, honour and dignity. It is an art. Slaughter is something only animals do. And so, I found this slaughter despicable. I'm all for killing, but only when it's murder, when it's art.

"Any idea what could have done this?" I asked my slave. Rydia knelt down next to a corpse and examined it with her eyes, taking a good look at it.

"They were torn to shreds by claws." She saw some dead females nearby too. "And the woman were violated." Rydia stood up again, having her answer. "It's probably a demon, or demons."

"Demon?"

"Oh, there are different kinds, and I can't tell from the markings here which kind it is. Some are a bit like us undead slaves. Some look human, others are obviously beasts. It differs." I opened my mouth to ask something, but Rydia was quicker. "But yes My Lord, they are perfectly killable."

"That's all I need to know." I finished, taking my dagger. I would find this demon and kill him. Murder him. Perform another artful act. I'd show him (or her) how you had to kill. That despicable animal. His or her slaughter here brings shame to the act and art of killing. Already, my mind began to think up ways for another artful murder.

We entered the village, being cautious. Rydia looked around with that dark, serious expression on her face.

"I think the demon is still in the area, but not in the village anymore." She whispered. I glanced at her.

"Can you sense him or her?"

"I think so." She closed her eyes for a while, appearing to be in deep concentration. When she finally opened her eyes again, she nodded. "I was able to sense him or her." She pointed in the direction of the dessert, or more accurately, the cliffs in the dessert in the distance. "Near those cliffs. I'm sure of it."

"Come. It is time to get my thirty-fifth victim."

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This chapter infused with the wholesome goodness of chocolate. **

**This is the first of four chapters by Icarax as he tries to dull the edges of his lingering cliche. Opinions?**


	14. Sealed emotion second

**Sealed Emotions, part 2**

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As we ran through the maze of cliffs, we soon heard screams. A woman, no, a girl, was screaming. I frowned and looked at Rydia.

"It might be someone from the village who tried to flee." Rydia said lowly.

"The screams…" I muttered. "She's getting killed?"

Rydia shook her head. "More like raped. Some demons love to do that to their victims before they rip them apart, or eat them alive."

"Despicable." I growled, my eyes gaining bloodlust. "They ruin the name and the art of killing."

"Will you save the girl then, My Lord?" Rydia asked softly.

Ridiculous, I thought, but I didn't say it out loud. We hurried further into the directions of the screams. I clenched my hand tighter around my dagger. Save whoever this girl was? The idea alone was laughable. I was simply going to kill this demon to show him how killing should be done.

We ran and arrived at an open space between some cliffs. And there was indeed the animal that had committed those tactless slaughters. Indeed amusing himself with a human girl. I caught a slight glimpse of her, she appeared to be no older than fourteen. All her clothes laid torn to shreds in the sand. I felt disgusted, this demon was such an animal. The demon itself appeared quite human, if you didn't mind his black claws on each finger, his tentacle-ish hair and his ash-grey skin. The demon hadn't noticed us yet, he was too much enjoying himself with raping the girl and tearing her skin slightly, but painfully, open.

"Stay back." I commanded Rydia. It was time for some murdering. The demon still hadn't noticed me, the girl's screaming covering the noise my walking was making. Because of her screaming, the demon never heard the dagger I had sailing through the air and planting itself firmly between his shoulders. The demon screamed as blood spat out of the wound. But he was not dead yet. Enraged he turned to face me, his skin becoming covered with thick, bone-like armour as soon as he let go of the girl. She fell on the ground, badly wounded.

The demon glared at me with his blood red eyes, and managed to pull my dagger from between his shoulders with one of his tentacles that formed his 'hair'.

"Who are you, human? You have any idea who you're up against?" He smirked.

I glared at him, but said not a word. My dagger was out of reach, but that was of real problem. With my Blood Magic I formed a sword made of my very own blood. I raised it slightly, pointing the tip at the demon.

"You intend to fight me, Xanador the Slayer?" The demon drew his own sword, made of bones. He eyed me carefully. "You're quite foolish. I noticed you're a Necromancer… But that will not help you. I shall kill you. Or maybe keep you alive for a little while longer, so I can have some fun with your slave first."

My eyes got a sickening, bloodthirsty look in them. "Silence. Animal." I commanded, my voice colder than ever. So cold was my voice, so frightening the gaze in my eyes was that even the demon Xanador did a step back. "Die." I hissed. Then I rushed towards him with great speed, my blood sword ready.

Xanador rushed towards me as well. We jumped towards each other at the exact same moment, our swords meeting in mid air. We hovered in perfect silence in the air for a small second, our swords locked. I surprised the demon and slashed his sword out of the way, then thrust my blade forward, aiming straight for his heart. He reacted swiftly enough however and managed to turn his body away. But he could not avoid my sword striking through the armour of his left arm, cutting deep in his flesh. Blood spilled out of his wound. We both landed gracefully on our feet. He turned around, furious.

"Cursed human! I shall cut your arm off for this!"

"You will not beat I, Icarax." I stated simply. Out of the corner of my eyes, I saw Rydia tending to the wounded and raped girl. She could take care of herself and that girl. I attacked the demon again, but this time he was ready. Our swords met again, both of us equal in power.

"I shall slice your miserable arms off you filthy human!" Xanador spat. "And your legs too when I get the chance! And then you can watch how I get some enjoyment out of that slut of yours!"

"Pathetic." I replied. "Filthy animal!!!" Anger surged through me and with a shock I realized that I was really feeling angry. I felt the emotion 'anger'. Not just a memory of how anger felt, trying to duplicate the feeling anger usually gives. No, real, pure and raw anger. Anger that demanded me to kill this stinking beast. Anger that caused incredibly bloodlust. I wanted to see this demon bleed. My anger demanded me to spill his blood. I had to see him bleed!!!

Anger and bloodlust were almost overflowing my senses. I felt an incredible surge of strength my anger gave me. I rushed towards Xanador. Before he could strike me with his sword, I jumped over him and gave him a kick straight in the neck. He stumbled forward, but remained standing. I landed on my feet and spun around immediately, striking with my sword ,cutting through his armoured skin, cutting deep in his flesh. Blood spat out of the wound and on my sword and arm, the sight of it exiting me. Snarling and mad with pain, Xanador attacked me quicker than I expected. He grabbed me around the throat and squeezed tightly, cutting off my air. Meanwhile he raised his own sword and brought it down hard on my shoulder. The pain was intense as he cut through my left shoulder bone, effectively splitting it in two. My clothes coloured red with blood. As I looked upon the blood, I began to loose even more of my senses. Ignoring the pain I raised my sword and stroke quickly, severing the hand around my throat from his arm. He stumbled back, howling in pain. Blood dripped out of the stump that was his left arm. My own left arm hung limply next to my body because my shoulder was cloven in two. The pain was maddening, but I managed to remain standing. I was so lost in my lust to see him bleed that the pain didn't seem to effect me like it should.

"Next, will be your head!" I grinned, running towards him again, regardless of my limp arm and bleeding shoulder.

"Miserable human!" Xanador swore, throwing his sword at me. It was too late to dodge. The sword pierced my chest, and the force the sword was thrown with threw me back against a cliff.

"My Lord!" Rydia screamed, running towards me. She knelt down next to my bleeding form. Her eyes widened in horrified surprise however, when I sat up all by myself, even with the sword sticking through my chest.

"My… My Lord…?" Rydia whispered meekly. She noticed the three blue marks on my cheek had grown larger and had become darker, almost black.

"Curse him…" I growled, with a horrifying voice. My hand trailed to my chest and pulled the sword out. I was bleeding like there was no tomorrow, yet I was still alive. I stood up, not aware of anything anymore. "Curse you….!" I snarled. And as I snarled like that, I felt my fingers twitch as my nails grew to long, sharp and black claws and my canine fangs grew sharper, pointier and longer. My eye-colour changed to blood red and my wounds healed and rapid speed. Even my broken shoulder bone healed. A purely insane smirk was formed on my face. "I will kill you." I said slowly, my gaze fixed on the wounded demon. "With my bare hands!" I rushed towards him, my clawed hands raised, still having that bloodthirsty smirk on my face. I had become faster, so fast he was too late to stop my attack. With one swipe of my claws I ripped open his face, dirtying my claws with the demon's blood. He stumbled backwards, cursing. "Why you…" He never finished that sentence. I plunged my clawed hand into his chest and ripped his heart out. His last look of shock never disappeared from his face as he fell lifelessly on the ground, his heart still in my hand, blood gushing out of it and out of the demon. I laughed like a maniac, enjoying the feeling of the blood running over my hands and arms, enjoying the warmth of the heart. I smirked and then crushed the heart in my hands, blood flying everywhere as I did so. "Pathetic animal."

The last drops of blood fell to the ground and I suddenly felt different. Cold, empty, emotionless… I looked at myself, at my bloodied hands and at the dead demon. I suddenly felt sick to my stomach and collapsed, sinking away into darkness.

What had happened?

* * *

**DoE out **


	15. Sealed emotion third

**Sealed Emotions, part 3**

* * *

"My Lord, please, wake up…" It sounded so weak and so far away, barely audible. Yet the voice was demanding and drew me back to consciousness if I liked it or not. I became aware of being shook gently. I opened my eyes, my expression cold and emotionless. Good, that's how it should be.

"Rydia?" I said tonelessly, looking at my slave, sitting on her knees next to me. "What happened?"

"I have no idea my Lord, you suddenly passed out after killing that demon." She replied honestly.

"Killing that…?" Then it all came back to me. My fight with that demon Xanador. How that incredible anger had gotten hold of my senses, how I had lusted for his blood, how I had transformed somewhat, loosing myself to utter demonic insanity, slaughtering him in the most despicable way there is. Ripping his heart out with my bare hands, enjoying feeling the blood on my hands and arms. My stomach twisted. Despicable. How could I, Icarax, sink so low as to commit a slaughter and not a murder? I, who saw it as his duty to only take lives in an artful, graceful way. How had I stooped so low as to kill a living being, be it a disgusting animal, with my bare hands, ripping his heart out with no dignity whatsoever? It was wrong, terribly wrong. It was not me. It was not how I wished to be. But I couldn't help it. I had no control whatsoever over my actions. My mind had been filled with utterly insane and demonic thoughts. Pure bloodlust in a disgusting way. Worst of all was that, while being in that insane state and form, I had enjoyed what I did. I had taken pure pleasure in slaughtering that demon the way I did. That was wrong. Even I, the greatest Murderer ever, had some dignity. Killing is an art, performing it gracefully even more so. No pleasure taken from slaughter could be justified. It was wrong.

"Rydia." I said coldly, sitting up. "This death will not count as a victim." My slave respectfully bowed her head.

"As you wish, My Lord."

Suddenly I noticed we weren't in the same place where I had fallen unconscious anymore, and that it wasn't just me and Rydia in this… cave. The girl I had unintentionally saved was there too, sitting crouched in a corner of the cave, looking miserable. Her many wounds had closed, but still looked painful, and she was sobbing uncontrollably.

"You brought her here too?" I said without looking at Rydia.  
"You were not there to command me not to do so, My Lord." Rydia replied.

"I guess you're right. You healed her?" It was not really a question, more like stating the obvious.

"I did, did I do wrong, My Lord?" Rydia asked carefully. I wanted to say she was, but as I looked at the girl again, I swallowed my words. It was obvious Rydia felt compassion for this girl. Maybe it was because she was raped, I did not know. I couldn't bring myself to command her to kill the girl or shoo her away. But what to do with her then? I glanced at Rydia again, she looked at me worriedly.

"I wanted to kill that demon with grace to show him how killing should be done…" I said slowly. "Yet I ended up slaughtering that demon like an animal, like he slaughtered her village and was about to slaughter her too. As of such, I have no right to kill her. I shall let her live."

Rydia let out a sigh of relief, looking obviously pleased. "I thank you my Lord."

Still, that didn't take away the problem of what to do with the girl. I tried to sit up, but intense pain filled my body because of my sudden movement, and I abandoned the idea. I glanced at my body. At least my claws and long fangs were gone.  
"Rydia, what happened to me?" I asked, with an unusual worried voice. My slave eyed me nervously.

"I have no idea My Lord. You were badly injured, for a moment I feared you were dead. But then, you sort of transformed and your wounds healed. I've heard of that happening with Necromancers before, but with you My Lord, your entire personality changed too… I have seen bloodlust and slaughter, but…" She bowed her head, looking somewhat horrified. "Forgive me My Lord, but the way you killed that demon, the sheer demonic bloodlust and evilness that came from you, I've never witnessed it in any mortal ever before."

Though she didn't notice it, I shivered in discomfort. Memories of how I had been during my 'transformed' state flooded my mind. It was indeed horrifying. Not to mention unsettling. And worst of all… I shivered again, if it had happened once, could it happen again? The thought alone made me panic in silence. Never again did I want to experience such feelings. Such demonic, horrifying emotions. I rather be a block of ice, a body void of any emotions, then to ever be like that again. I clenched my fist. I could not let it happen again. But what to do about it? I had no idea. No idea whatsoever. Maybe I was in need for help. Maybe somebody knew what could be done.

"Rydia." I said tonelessly, drawing her attention to me again. "Do you know of anybody who might be able to explain my situation to me? And perhaps what could be done to prevent it from happening again, if such is possible?"

My slave fell silent for a long while, thinking. Eventually, she stammered: "I've heard of one person… But… It's not exactly… very safe…"

"Explain." I commanded.

Rydia let out a deep sigh. "You see My Lord, there's a demon in the Necrohol of Nabudis, with grand knowledge of all sort of demonic things and weapons. I heard she is very wise even with things that have nothing to do with the demonic ways. Seeing how your transformation was… I think she'd be the best person you could turn to. Only…"

"What?" I snapped, impatient.

"She's a demon. Many went there for council, few ever returned, and even less returned fully intact, so to speak."

"Am I supposed to be scared now?" I snorted in annoyance.

"I didn't expect you to be, but I still would dare say yes, My Lord."

I rolled my eyes, sighing. "I'm afraid of becoming demonic myself again. No fear can ever compete with the fear I feel for my very own self."

"I am your slave my Lord. Wherever you go, I'll follow." Rydia shrugged. For her, the decision had been made. For me as well. That left one thing to deal with, but I decided to wait. I was getting tired again, and I realized I was clearly in need of sleep.

"I'm going to sleep some more." I stated tonelessly. "You keep watch Rydia."

She nodded and I closed my eyes, drifting off to sleep.

When I woke up again, I felt fine again and I immediately sat up. This movement startled Rydia, who had been sitting on her knees next to the girl I had accidentally saved. I realized I still had to decide what to do with her.

"My Lord, you're awake!" Rydia smiled, running up to me. I managed to halt her before she threw her arms around my neck.

"Indeed I am." I said. Then I stood up and stretched my body a bit. It was time to go, to the Necrohol of Nabudis. Quite a journey. I looked around for my dagger, for I seemed to have lost it, but couldn't find it. I guess it was still at the place where I had fought with Xanador the Slayer. That was too bad, but I could rely on my Blood Magic to create weapons. I would be fine even without a normal, human weapon. I noticed Rydia was back with the girl. The younger girl with her black hair, still naked, appeared to be frightened incredibly, but apparently took comfort in Rydia's presence. The girl still had some scars on her body from her being raped by the demon, and her mind appeared quite troubled to me, but aside from that, the girl seemed fine. What to do with her though? I noticed Rydia liked the girl… a lot. And not just because of the person the girl was. I noticed Rydia couldn't help but let her gaze wander at times down the girl's perfectly shaped body, looking a bit wanting. That explained a lot, I thought in silence.

"Rydia, we are going." I announced. Not waiting for her reply, I left the cave, when Rydia's voiced stop me.

"But what about her, My Lord?"

I glanced over my shoulder to Rydia and the girl, my mind made up. "She will obey me like you do, Rydia. Now come."

* * *

"My Lord, I feel… uneasy here… This is a place of the dead…" A tiny voice behind me said. I showed no signs of listening, but the girl who had spoken by now knew when I listened and when not.

"Ilia…" I said with my emotionless voice as I marched on through the Necrohol of Nabudis. "Are you trying to say that I should go back, thus meaning you are trying to tell me what to do?" My new, black-haired slave gasped in terror.

"N-Not at all my Lord! Just… Just feeling scared, that's all…" She bowed her head in shame.

"I told you before you shall not be harmed as long as you serve me correctly. So far, you have been doing fine and thus, I shall protect you. You think I am capable of breaking my word?" I asked again, coldly.

"No My Lord." Ilia replied quickly.

"Then be quiet and stay close to Rydia." And with that, I considered the conversation over and walked on.

* * *

Ilia walked closer to Rydia, who happily pulled the younger girl closer to her. The black-haired girl looked up to the undead slave.

"What's our Lord looking for in this cursed place?" Rydia smiled and gave the girl a quick hug.

"I thought you heard me tell him weeks ago when you were saved."

"I wasn't paying full attention…" Ilia replied shyly.

"Understandable, really. You did have a lot on your mind then…"

"I'm not sure if I'm already over everything that happened." Ilia said with a sad voice, hanging her head. Rydia knew the girl was on the verge of crying. She gently stroked the girl's cheek.

"Hey, it's okay…" Rydia whispered softly. She leaned a bit closer to Ilia's ear and whispered teasingly. "As soon as we are at a nice place to rest and stay, how about I help you forget all those horrible memories again?"

Ilia started to blush fiercely as she heard those words. She knew what Rydia was referring to, after all, they had done 'it' before…

"You are falling behind." I said, annoyed.

"Sorry My Lord!" Rydia hastily said, taking Ilia's hand and running towards me to catch up.

It had been a bit more than three weeks since Ilia had come into my life. She is the girl I accidentally saved from that demon. She is now travelling with me as what I'd consider another slave like Rydia, aside from the fact that Ilia is alive and mortal. I had ordered Rydia to take care of the girl, a task she happily accepted and the two seemed to get along pretty good. To make Ilia blend in, she now wore an outfit similar to Rydia's: a skin-tight, black leotard, black boots reaching to her knees, black gloves and a red scarf tied around her waist. Rydia taught her the rules concerning following me and Ilia had obeyed those ever since. She never complained to be my slave, addressed me properly as 'My Lord' and did not question my decisions. Thus, I did not mind her presence. Neither did Rydia. And in case you're wondering, she didn't mind Ilia's company for more than just liking the girl's personality. I noticed it straight from the beginning, and maybe that's why I decided to bring the girl along with me. Rydia was interested in the girl in more than just a friendly companion way. Out of modesty, let's just say the way Rydia's interested in Ilia concerns the both of them being naked… a lot. Okay, you get the picture I'm sure. Oh the peace I experience now that Rydia has someone with whom she can get rid of her sexual desires. Not only that, Ilia's willing to accept those desires too, unlike me. Rydia seemed more than happy with this solution, and so was I. And even if Ilia would have refused to help Rydia get rid of those annoying desires, I would have commanded her to do so. Yes, totally selfish of me, but I care not. Ilia's my slave, I can command her to do whatever I want.

I stopped, sensing something, possibly danger. "Rydia, Ilia, be on your guard." They both stopped, Rydia protectively pushing Ilia behind her. I tensed slightly. "There is something here." I said. "Something powerful, look." I pointed to the monsters. Up until now, they had been following us, now and then one of them had dared to attack us. But now they were all backing away and fleeing. "The monsters are retreating."

I clenched my fist, ready to summon a blood sword when needed. The mist made it hard to see, but finally I was able to extinguish a shape in the mist, coming closer. Until finally, a tall woman stood before me. Though she appeared human, I immediately noticed she was not a mortal like m or Ilia. Her sin was pale, as good as white. Her eyes dark grey. Twisted spikes grew from her backbone, shoulders, elbows, wrists and ankles. She had the same bone-like armour over her body Xanador had worn, which made it clear for me that she was a demon. Her long, blond hair ran all the way to the ground. Her ears were bat-like and her canine-fangs sharp, long and pointed.

"I've been waiting for you…" She said, eyeing me with amusement. "Icarax…"

I shot her a glare. "How do you know who I am, or that I was coming?" I clenched my fist so hard my knuckles became white. She grinned sweetly.

"Trust me, I have a knack of knowing when people want to meet me and who those people are." She tilted her head to one side, letting her gaze wander until it found Rydia and Ilia. "You're a Necromancer ,are you not? Very unusual of you to travel with two undead slaves…"

"Ilia's not undead." I said tonelessly, waving my hand in Ilia's direction. "She's mortal, like me."

"Even more unusual." The demon replied. "Does your slave not please you enough? Or is it just too different that you need a normal mortal girl?"

"Silence." I hissed, my gaze icy cold. "Ilia's merely here for Rydia's enjoyment."

The demon rolled her eyes. "You're such a confusing Necromancer. Do you actually find it fun to go against everything a normal Necromancer would do?"

"I decide who I want to be." I retorted sharply. "I don't have to be like others just because that's the norm."

The demon shrugged with her spiked shoulders. "Whatever." Her gaze pierced mine as she looked straight into my eyes. "Enough of this unnecessary banter, wouldn't you say, Icarax? Let's get down to business…" She gave me a smirk. "Follow me to my 'home' and tell me what could drive a mortal like yourself to such desperation as to seek the aid of a demon like me."

* * *

The demon, Valvalicia her name turned out to be, led us to her home, a palace that probably once belonged to a nobleman of Nabudis. It was still intact, but tainted by the mist. There she had made her current home. I noticed many tools used normally by smiths and many weapons lying around as well. Weapons shimmering with demonic evilness. So she was a demon-smith, I realized. Finally she settled down in a room on one of the richly decorated chairs that were now hers. I mentioned Rydia and Ilia to settle down, while I remained standing, my gaze not once leaving the demon's face.

"So Icarax…" She said, still smirking, as she crossed her arms. "Tell me what's bothering you and I'll see if your problem is worth my time."

"What if it's not?" I inquired carelessly.

"You'll die." She said matter-of-factly.

I rolled my eyes in annoyance. So predictable. Still, behind those youthful looks of her, I knew there was the mind of a person who had seen many years. She could easily be a hundred times my age and her eyes betrayed wisdom. Deciding to take the risk, I told her my story. Told her what had happened when I killed Xanador, where I came from, every detail that could be important, I told her. I noticed Rydia and Ilia listening with great interest just as well. When I was done talking, a frown appeared on Valvallicia's face and she appeared deeply lost in thoughts.

"Your problem is worth my time." She said after a long silence. She grinned again, though she was still frowning. The demon leaned back in her chair, biting her blood-red lips. "Long ago, a person with a problem similar to yours came searching for my aid…" She told me.

"What happened to him?" I asked emotionlessly.

"He died." Valvallicia replied. "The solution I offered him to his problem killed him, his mind was too weak."

"The solution killed him?" I repeated slowly. "So there is a way to prevent myself from ever loosing control of myself again?"

"There is." The demon nodded. She stood up and started pacing. "You see Icarax, contrary to what you believe, you still have emotions inside your soul. You are not empty, not void of emotions. They are still within you. Or at least some of them."

I narrowed my eyes, but said nothing.

"You told me you were an insane killer before you became a Necromancer, and you became an emotionless killer once you were a Necromancer. I'm not fully sure just what happened, but I can guess." She paused for a little while. "You where insane and lost your feelings to your insanity. It is possible your insanity killed many of your normal emotions. Yet even with your insane mind, the emotions every mortal like you has, remained inside yourself. Oppressed and locked away by your insanity, yes, but they still existed. You simply had no way of reaching them anymore. When you travelled between the worlds and took on your new Necromancer powers, I think your sub-consciousness intervened. Deep inside your soul, all you want is to be like any mortal: filled with all kinds of emotions. You may protest against this all you want, but it is the truth. When you gained your Necromancer powers, you unknowingly used them to seal away your insanity just like your insanity has locked away your normal emotions. And thus, you became hollow, void of any feelings. However, your feelings, both your insanity and sanity still remain deep within your soul."

That would explain a lot, I thought.

"However, while in theory the idea to use Blood magic to keep you sane is quite brilliant, there's a hole in it, one your sub-consciousness didn't count on."

"And that is?" I asked emotionlessly, yet somehow eager to know the answer as well.

"Like I said: Blood Magic is used to seal your insanity. However, when you tap into your Blood Magic powers, that seal weakens. Your mind is necessary to perform Blood Magic and when you use it, that small part of your mind you have no control over, looses its focus it needs to sustain the Blood Magic spell, that keeps your insanity sealed, as well. What follows is a chain reaction: the seal has weakened slightly. You fight, you kill, you see blood. Your insanity reacts with that, for you're insane, you lust for blood. Your insanity begins to fight its seal. The more you kill, the more blood you see, the harder it becomes for your sub-consciousness to keep your insanity sealed. And finally, your insanity breaks free and overwhelms you, taking every bit of control over you, tapping into your Necromancer powers. Even go as far as transforming your body. And that, Icarax, is what happened when you fought Xanador."

It made sense. I had lost my human weapon when I began fighting Icarax and had conjured up a Blood Sword made of Blood Magic. The more I saw Xanador bleed the more I had begun to loose myself… Then when I became so injured, when I saw so much blood and felt so much pain, that's when I had snapped. It made sense. Yes, it really made sense. What Valvallicia was telling me, it had to be the truth.

"So you're saying it is not safe for me to use Blood Magic?"

"Precisely." She replied. "Oh you can use it, but it is dangerous for your mental state."

I cursed. "What kind of Necromancer am I, if I can't use Blood Magic?! Granted I barely use it even now, but not even be able to form a Blood Sword without loosing my mind to my insanity?" It became very hard for me at that moment to resist the urge to go and kill something. Out of frustration and lack of anything to kill, I slammed my fist in the nearest wall, ignoring the pain it brought me.

"Now, now, calm down little Necromancer." Valvallicia crooned. "I said it's not safe if you use Blood Magic, but that doesn't mean you're unable to use any at all"

"You're making no sense." I hissed coldly.

Valvallicia shrugged. "I told you there was a solution to your problem, did I not?" She walked out of the room and mentioned us to follow. "If you have the courage, follow me…" She gave me a grin that infuriated me. I strode after her and mentioned Rydia and Ilia to follow us.

Valvallicia led us down into a deep, dark basement. On our way down the stairs leading to it, I noticed many rooms with many weapons and armours stored in them. Valvallicia had to be quite the smith if she had forged all of these by herself. But Valvallicia ignored all these rooms and instead went down to the deepest basement she had. It was a round, dark room, illuminated by one torch only. But it wasn't that torch that in fact illuminated the room. It was the weapon stored in it. The only weapon stored in this room. It was a glimmering, long and powerful looking sword, brimming with a red, demonic and evil aura. Valvallicia approached the altar on which the sword laid, but avoided touching it.

"This sword." She said, glancing at me and beckoning us to come closer. I told Rydia and Ilia to stay at the entrance and then went to stand next to Valvallicia. "This sword was forged long ago, when I was still an apprentice smith, for one of the most powerful Necromancers I ever knew. He was not the strongest one and didn't live long either. He requested my master to forge him a sword that would increase his powers and his control over his Blood Magic. My master warned him that such a weapon could be made, but that it would require a mortal with tremendous mental strength to handle it…" Valvallicia laughed cruelly. "Like all mortals, he ignored that warning and took possession of this sword. Only to be possessed by the pure evil this sword contains. He lost himself to the sword, his mind was eroded by it and he eventually died, he had lost to the sword." She turned to look at me. "The sword is forged from a fang of the Wyrm Yiazmat… It contains pure malice, evil and destruction. Yet it could be the solution to your problem Icarax…"

"How so?" I asked coldly, me eyes not leaving the sword. It was a beautiful sword, that much I had to give her. Its blade was long, sharp and as clear as crystal, its hilt red, blue and gold.

Valvallicia laughed again and only now I truly noticed she was a demon, for she was mocking me and all mortals.

"If you are strong enough to wield this sword, you can use your Blood Magic without any fear of losing yourself. You see, a Necromancer who wields this sword… When such a person uses Blood Magic, it is not the Necromancer himself, but the sword that casts the Blood Magic. Which means, if you wield this sword and use Blood Magic, the sword will cast that Blood Magic for you, and not your mind. Which means that your mind's Blood Magic seal on your insanity will not weaken and thus keep your insanity safely sealed." She did a step backwards, allowing me to see the sword in all its glory. "Of course, you'll still pay the normal price for using Blood Magic, such as using your own blood and stuff, but your mind will not be needed to sustain the spells, the sword will do that for you."

"You are willing to give me this sword?" I inquired tonelessly, a slight hint of surprise in my voice. It seemed unlikely that anybody would give such a magnificent weapon away…

"If you can handle it, yes. But beware Icarax, the last person who tried to take this sword, he was overtaken by the sword's evil aura as soon as he touched it and I had to kill him… Are you sure you can handle it?"

I glared at the demon. Her mockery was becoming annoying. I turned my attention on the sword again. The demonic aura that it was giving off was strong indeed. It was a dangerous weapon, I realized that much. Still… I shivered slightly as I remembered how it felt to loose myself to my insanity. I didn't hesitate in the slightest. I reached out and grabbed hold of the sword's hilt, lifting it up from the altar. The red aura of the sword grew larger and began to dance like flames. It expanded from the sword until it covered me, but I stood still. It felt as if the sword was trying to take control of my mind and soul. I glared at it. "Pathetic weapon," I thought with disgust, "you were forged to be used, to be the tool, to be the servant. Don't try to be the one in control when that is not your place!" The sword seemed to increase its attempt to take hold of my mind, I felt it tugging, but there was no pain or anything. I remained myself, my senses as sharp as ever. Eventually, the sword gave up and the aura around me subsided, flowing back to the sword, where it stayed. I smirked and turned to Valvallicia.

"It seems the sword learned that I am its master, and has accepted its place as a servant instead of a ruler."

The look on Valvallicia's face was priceless. "But how…?" She muttered, her eyes wide with amazement. "How did you resist the sword…?!"

I glared at her, lowering my arm and the sword. "I realized the sword was trying to take over my mind, my emotions… But that is hard, isn't it, when you're mind is empty and you're void of feelings?" I felt the urge to smile. "The person who came here before me must not have been as empty as me, if this weapon killed him…" I walked away towards the entrance, putting the sword at my belt. I glanced one last time at Valvallicia. "I shall gladly accept this powerful weapon and see if what you said about it is true. And if it isn't, demon Valvallicia, know that I'll be back to give it back to you. And when I give it back, you'll find it not on the altar, but through your throat." I turned to Ilia and Rydia. "We are going."


	16. Sealed emotion final

**Sealed Emotions, part 4**

* * *

How… annoying. It has been around five or six days since we left the Necrohol of Nabudis with my new sword. I had been very eager to test it in a battle, not only because I wanted to see if I could keep my insanity sealed, but also because this sword was very powerful, brimming with potential. And I knew that with my current experience and power, I would be nowhere near able to wield this sword to its full potential. I'm not a weak Necromancer, if I do say so myself, but not being able to use Blood Magic is a big handicap, so that's why I have to do battles to master this sword. Problem is, every monster we encountered so far, fled with its tail (if it had one) between its legs as soon as I drew the sword. It seemed that the sheer evil this sword gave off was enough to scare even the most vile monsters away And use this one normal humans, now that would barely give me any experience with this sword.

"Rydia." I turned to my undead slave and my other, mortal slave. "We'll be going to a town to rest a few nights in a quality bed. It's no use remaining around here, everything flees upon seeing my sword."

Both my slaves bowed. "As you wish, My Lord." They both said. And with that, I walked away again. The two girls followed me as loyal as ever. At first, their opinion and reaction towards my sword had been one of fear. Though they never said it out loud, I knew they feared the sword would try to posses me again. But I knew better. I had made it perfectly clear to the sword that I was the master and it had seemed to be fine with that now. I guessed that maybe the sword had accepted me as its master because it finally wanted to be used. After all, none had ever been able to wield this weapon before without loosing their minds to the sword. Well, whatever the reason the sword had to not try and posses me, it had accepted me as its user and that was all that mattered. Ilia after a few days had in fact taking a liking to me having the sword, because it kept away monsters and thus kept her safe. Even Rydia ditched her worries after a while. And even if she hadn't wanted to, I would have commanded her to.

We had just left the woods and were crossing the Osmose plains when I sensed it. Something strong was close. Not a monster, its presence felt too controlled for that. I turned to look at my slaves and saw Rydia shivering.

"What's wrong?" I asked tonelessly.

"This presence… it… it scares me…" She said quietly, breathing slightly faster than usual.

"Why does it scare you?" I snorted. If it is hostile, you think I would not be able to protect the two of you?"

"It's not that…" Rydia said meekly. "But… I… I think… It's… an Exorcist."

I blinked. "A what?"

"Up until now we've not encountered any, but with your murdering My Lord, I feared we'd get some on our trail sooner or later."

"I've heard of them." Ilia said quietly. "Exorcists belong to a group of Necromancer-killers called 'Holy Mother'. They hunt down Necromancers mercilessly and try to exterminate them."

I smiled. "Sounds like some fun people." I turned in the direction I felt the presence the strongest. "If he's a Necromancer killer, he won't hesitate to fight me, which means I have found an excellent opportunity to test my new sword."

And the Exorcist came. A tall young man, maybe a bit older than me, all dressed in white, with pale white eyes and hair as well. He carried two paladin blades at each hip, blades infused with holy, righteous power. His cool gaze observed each of us.

"And here I was, trying to figure out why all those Necromancers lately have been heading towards Jagd Helje, when suddenly all monsters run past me, as if the devil is on their heels." His eyes met mine. "And here's the reason for their fear, a Necromancer with his undead bitches. I should have known where that horrid stench of undead flesh was coming from."

He tilted his head sideways, as if trying to make up his mind about me. "Haven't seen you before, you're not on any wanted list I can remember so far… Means you're probably an unimportant pup."

I looked at Rydia, my face cold and expressionless. "This blabbermouth is supposed to be one of those feared Necromancer killers?" Rydia didn't say anything, but nodded. I sighed with clear annoyance. "What a disappointment." The Exorcist glared at me.

"What did you say?"

I smirked ever so slightly, my voice cold and filled with the calm malice of a perfectly sane murderer. "I said: what a disappointment. I had hoped you to be more fearsome." I shook my head slowly. "I guess not, but I'll have to take what there is to get, I suppose."

The Exorcist drew his two blades. "Insolent rat! I'll make you eat those words, and my blades!"

My gaze darkened as my hand folded itself around the hilt of my sword. "Try me." I whispered darkly, drawing the sword. As soon as it was free of the belt I kept it under, the sword became surrounded by its evil, demonic red aura. I held the sword ready. Now we would see, what it was made of. And if Valvallicia had told the truth. The Exorcist did a step back at first, visibly horrified by the evil that was my sword. I took the time to turn to my slaves. "Stay back. Rydia, guard Ilia." They did not waste time and obeyed and I returned my attention to the Exorcist.

"Such an evil blade." He muttered. "Clearly a demon sword. You're quite the idiot if you think that a mere mortal like you can handle that sword."

"Do all Exorcists talk this much?" I smirked. "Or do you simply want to lengthen your life by talking and avoiding the fight that will result in your death?"

"Silence!" He spat, rushing towards me with his two swords ready. I glanced at the sword in my hand.

"This is it sword." I thought. "Show me what you've got."

I waved the sword through the air quickly, for the sword was light as a feather. I had intended to cast a simple summoning spell to summon some weak undead creatures. I felt the familiar feeling of my strength being sapped as I used Blood Magic, but the usual draining of my mind did not come. My spiritual strength was not sapped in the least. The sword brimmed with power and unleashed the summoning spell, calling forth some Skeleton Warriors. The skeletons stood, waiting for orders. I pointed my sword at the approaching Exorcist and they stormed towards him, attacking him. I glanced at my weapon with a pleased look in my eyes. It really did seem to work! I had performed a Blood spell yet I still felt as normal as ever, my mind did not seem to change or go berserk with emotions at all! The Exorcist easily destroyed my Skeleton Warriors, but that was to be expected. It had only been a test.

"If that's the best you've got you might as well surrender now and I'll make it painless for you." He shouted with a smirk towards me.

"Silence, fool." I commanded icily. I braced myself, this time I'd try something I was good in. I swung my sword again, this time intending to create a Blood Sword. I felt the draining on my blood as the spell formed, but my mind remained untouched again. But what had intended to be a simple Blood Sword, turned out to be much more! My surprise was great as I saw many Blood Swords fly out of my sword towards the Exorcist as I swung my weapon. The Exorcist was as surprised as I was and quickly began a defensive move, but could not prevent at least one sword of cutting through his side slightly. I saw his blood, but it affected me not. There was no insane lust for blood coming up in me. I felt relieved. All was well, the sword did what it was supposed to do.

"Damn you…" The Exorcist hissed. He didn't waste anymore time and sped towards me. I readied my blade and waited for him. He raised his left sword and lashed out, but I blocked it with my powerful demonblade. While those swords were locked in combat, he swung his other sword at me. I quickly created a Blood Sword in my left hand and blocked his blade with it. I kicked him with my knee in his stomach (an old trick, but you'd be surprised at how many mortals still fall for it), making him double over in pain. The force on his swords disappeared and I swung both of my blades with full force, cutting open his chest and blowing the Exorcist backwards. He landed painfully against a rock. I did not want to waste any time finishing him off, there was no point in that. I cast a spell again and swung my demon sword.

"Blood Sword Barrage." I whispered testing the new name for my improved version of the normal Blood Sword. Like before, when I swung my swords, many swords of Blood flew from my blade to the Exorcist. I felt slight surprise as he appeared to still have fight left in him. He did a back flip and the Blood Swords missed him, instead piercing the rock I had flung him against.

"Not bad." I admitted. "But you just lengthened your suffering." It was simply the truth. I ran towards him, my demon sword shimmering with its red evil aura. As I approached him I fired of my Blood Sword Barrage again, expecting him to dodge it. My expectations came true as he jumped in the air, the swords passing down under him.

"That trick is getting old." He mocked. I glared at him.

"Them how about this one." I replied coldly. A Blood Whip appeared at the tip of my sword and I swung my sword and the whip, hitting him hard and painfully on his right leg. The force of the blow made him come down hard on the ground. As he tried to get up, I wanted to finally finish this. I pointed my sword at him and unleashed its raw power, a wave of blood-red energy approaching the fallen Exorcist. There was no chance of escape and my attack hit him with all its force. There was a massive explosion and the Exorcist was thrown in the air, his skin torn to shreds by the power of my sword. Blood rained down from his body as he flew through the air and finally crashed, head first, on another rock. I had watched it all emotionlessly. As soon as I was sure it was over, I studied my blade. It truly was magnificent. The power it possessed was perfect. I had been able to use Blood Magic without loosing myself to my insanity. And though I was still far from mastering the full power of the sword, I wasn't too disappointed with what I had performed with it so far. Especially the improved Blood Sword technique was very much to my liking. As I turned to my slaves and prepared to leave, Ilia cried:

"Look out My Lord, behind you!"

Frustrated I turned around, not believing that the Exorcist could still be alive even after being hit with so much raw demonic power. Yet he was, he still stood. Maybe Exorcists were psychically stronger than normal mortals.

"Still alive…?" I muttered, slightly surprised.

"An Exorcist won't get beaten by a measly little Necromancer like you!" He shot back, sounding as mocking as ever, despite being a bloody mess. He swung his blade as he fired of a spell of his own. "Holy!" I cringed, that was quite an effective spell to a master of the dead like me. My surprise was great however, when the spell passed right over my head. At first I was confused by this, but then I realized the spell wasn't aimed at me, but at Rydia! Being undead as she was, the spell would surely be hell for her, even kill her! Without thinking I ran towards her and jumped in front of the spell, taking the full hit of the attack. I bit my teeth as I fought against the pain, trying to shake off the spell. I did not scream, for that is simply something I don't do. I clenched my sword tightly and unleashed its power again, fighting back the spell with it. Finally the power of my sword and will won it from the Exorcist's attack. I was able to dispel the Holy, but the damage had been done. I fell on my knees, exhausted and wounded.

"You're a fool to have underestimated me." The Exorcist spat. "Though you did surprise me with the control you've shown over that sword of yours. But it's over now!" He grabbed his swords and rushed towards me. "Die!"

For me time seemed to slow. I saw him coming towards me but the spell had exhausted me so much that I could not bring up the strength to cast another spell. I did not think it was over, I would not die in a fight with such a weakling. I prepared to block his attack and then cut open his guts. Not my preferred way of killing a victim, but seeing my exhausted state, I had little choice. I slowly stood up and prepared my sword for the attack. Yet the moment I did that, I felt something strange. Like the sword was… pulsing. Like a heart was beating inside it. Slowly the red aura around the sword became black and I felt all my strength being drained. So much I almost sank on my knees again. I realized my sword was trying something, preparing something perhaps, but that I lacked the strength to do it on my own.

"Rydia! Ilia!" I commanded. "Come and hold me… Lend me your strength…"

Surprised by my request, the two slaves nonetheless obeyed. Rydia grabbed my free hand and Ilia took hold of my arm. Immediately I felt the strain of my strength being tapped lessen and the blade now glowed brilliantly black. Somehow I knew what to do. The Exorcist was barely five feet away by now. With all might that remained in me, I swung my sword and as I did that, a black circle was fired off by it. The Exorcist was so surprised by this unexpected attack that he had no time to dodge. The black circle hit him and to my surprise, started to pull him in. It took me a while to realize what it was. A black hole, or something like it. The Exorcist screamed as every bit of his body that was sucked in the black hole disintegrated until finally, he was swallowed by the black hole entirely and disappeared forever. The evil red aura reappeared around my sword, the black hole disappeared as soon as it had swallowed the Exorcist entirely. And I collapsed from exhaustion. My first battle with my new sword had been tiring, but very informative just as well. Even as I began to slip into unconsciousness, I kept holding my sword. It had proven its worth. It had protected my life and my sanity. It was worthy of being my weapon and I was happy it was. My last thought before gliding fully into an unconscious sleep, was that the sword deserved a name.

---

"Do you need anything else, my Lord?" Rydia asked with a slight bow. I shook my head.

"You can go." I said tonelessly. Rydia nodded again and left the room, leaving me in silence. I sighed deeply. That fight with the Exorcist had been weeks ago by now. Thanks to the good care of Rydia and Ilia, I had recovered from that fight very quickly. In a few days I was ready for killing again. We had gone to Rabanastre to take a good rest before we'd head off towards Jagd Helje. I had decided to go there weeks ago, shortly after my fight with the Exorcist. He had said he had been following Necromancers who were all headed towards Jagd Helje. That intrigued me. I hadn't met any other Necromancers so far, or heard about many so far, so I found it quite surprising to hear that quite a bunch of them was heading towards Helje. I had decided to go too, because I wanted to see how other Necromancers were. Rydia and Ilia had not protested. Not that their protest would have had any effect on my decision. After all, I was their master.

The weeks that had passed, I had been practicing with my demon blade, which I had named Zanketsouha, after a name I once heard in my homeworld and that remained stuck in my memories. As I had expected, the power of the blade was magnificent. I was proud to wield it. But I also had ways to go with it. All of my Blood Magic that I knew so far I could now channel through my blade. I would learn more skills as I would continue murdering and training. But there was one technique of the Zanketsouha that was, for now at least, beyond my ability to master. The Meidou. Or rather, the black hole that had sucked up the Exorcist. I had learned that it was an evil, powerful and destructive weapon, one of the deadliest to be wielded by intelligent beings. The Meidou was basically a black hole, that disintegrated the bodies of the enemies it caught, while sending their souls straight to hell. An amazing skill indeed. Yet I knew by now that the only reason I had been able to use it, was because Rydia and Ilia had shared their strength with me. On my own I lacked the psychical strength, the Blood Magic and the experience to use it. I would have to become stronger, practice, gain experience from fighting powerful enemies. And then I would be able to master the Meidou. And with the Meidou at my fingertips, nothing could possibly hope to stop me from becoming the greatest murderer in Ivalice's history, with the highest number of victims ever and the greatest bounty just as well. But that still was far away. It could easily take years. I wasn't even a Class A Necromancer yet, and surely the Meidou required something much stronger than a normal Class A Necromancer. Yet I was patient. I had other skills so far that were very much to my liking. Very much indeed.

I laid the Zanketsouha down on a small table in my room in this small in. Then I lay down on the bed, tired. Besides my practicing, I had a lot on my mind. I couldn't say that my life now was bad, not at all. I had become sane again, a great advantage, I had a goal in life, a powerful weapon to help me achieve that goal and two slaves to prevent me from ever being alone. If I killed enough I would get fame just as well. I could become somebody. I could get everything one could ever wish for. Yet deep inside, I knew I was missing something. Something I would never be able to get.

My emotions.

Here I am, Icarax, a Necromancer void of any feelings and emotions. A disaster I brought down upon myself. After I killed my own parents so long ago, I had allowed myself to slip away from sanity, I had allowed myself to give up my emotions. And now there was no way back. Thee is no way to get rid of my insanity. The insanity that oppresses my emotions, keeps them from influencing me. Now that insanity too, was sealed away by my Blood Magic, a seal that was kept in place thanks to the Zanketsouha. Leaving my mind with nothing. Nothing but memories of how it once felt to have emotions. My mind making me act upon those memories. I remember how it was to be angry, to be happy, but I cannot feel it anymore. When I laugh, it is because my mind remembers that I laughed in happy situations, not because I feel any happiness.

I am absolutely hollow. And that never truly bothered me, until I fought that Exorcist. I had thrown myself selflessly in front of Rydia, protected her. But what for? On that moment, I felt nothing. No fear, no panic. Yet I had acted. Like a normal person would act on emotions. Emotions I did no longer have. That was dangerous. Acting upon something I wasn't aware of, could be very dangerous for my life.

I sighed deeply, acting depressed. I was no longer sure just what to think. Did I want my emotions or not? Confused, I turned around and tried to sleep. Tomorrow we'd begin our long journey to Helje, I had to sleep well so I would be healthy enough to travel.

---

In a smaller room next to mine, my two slaves stayed. They to had gone to bed, to be ready for tomorrow. The clothes of both girls laid a bit carelessly on the ground. Ilia sighed, snuggling a bit deeper in Rydia's warm embrace. She could feel the warmth of Rydia's body on her back and her soft hands around her waist. The young girl was used to this by now. In fact she quite enjoyed nights like these.

"Is something bothering you, Ilia?" Rydia whispered softly in her ear.

Ilia didn't immediately reply. "Tomorrow we'll be going to Helje…" She finally said.

Rydia nodded slowly. "Indeed, why do you say this?" Ilia shivered slightly. "Are you scared?" Rydia inquired gently, tightening her embrace in an effort to comfort Ilia somewhat.

"It's just…" Ilia said slowly. "Why does Lord Icarax insist on going there?"

"There will be other Necromancers, he wants to meet others like him." Rydia shrugged.

"I know that… But it's dangerous…" Ilia's voice was trembling slightly, and that didn't escape Rydia. "I'm just a simple mortal human girl, with no powers at all. Me, among all those Necromancers and their undead slaves… It scares me…"

"I'll be there to protect you." Rydia smiled sweetly, placing a light kiss on Ilia's neck. "And Lord Icarax has Zanketsouha, people will think twice before they attack."

Another sigh escaped Ilia's lips. "Sometimes I wonder why Lord Icarax insists n taking me along. I'm useless for his goal, after all."

To that, Rydia didn't immediately reply. "You aren't useless for Lord Icarax." She finally said, her voice firm and determined. "Even if you have no powers that can help him achieve his goal, you do something else for him Something more valuable than any power anybody could posses to help him."

"And what's that?" The younger slave asked quietly.

"Your company." The answer came, upon which Ilia frowned. Rydia smiled slightly. "Though Lord Icarax says he took you with him so he would be freed from my sexual desires, I think the real reason is something else entirely." Her smile widened a bit as she spoke. "Lord Icarax told me he has been alone for so long in his homeworld. Insane, alone, shunned and hated… And then he came here and suddenly he had me. Somebody who trusts him, likes him and follows him without questioning his behaviour at all. That makes him happy, even if he can't feel it or doesn't realize it. But he likes it. And you give him the same. Company and trust. You don't question who he is, you follow him regardless of that. That makes him happy. I'm certain of it." She kissed Ilia's neck again. "And that trust and company that you give him Ilia, that's more valuable then any power you could ever posses."

"I like to think that…" Ilia smiled weakly. "I felt sorry for Lord Icarax. So void of emotions… I can't imagine anybody ever liking that… I'm happy that my presence can make him happy, even if he doesn't feel the happiness. I just wish I could do more."

"You're doing enough as it is, Ilia." Rydia replied. "No matter how much we'd sometimes like to help our Master in different ways, we can't. We can only stay with him like we've done all this time already. And maybe… maybe our presence will one day free help him to free himself of his insanity and fill that void of his with emotions again. That's something worth staying with him for, don't you agree?"

Ilia closed her eyes, her lips now forming a dream smile. She nodded. "I hope so Rydia, I really do…"

In my own room, I closed my eyes, smiling too. My slaves would probably never realize that I had heard everything they had said. I wasn't going to tell them either. I turned on my back and gazed at the ceiling. Maybe Rydia was right. Maybe there was still hope for me and those sealed emotions of me.

**

* * *

DoE: i originally edited this chapter and the one before a bit because i felt that the choice of a long sword for icarax was ooc. but then i saved it to the hard drive that i left at home. after thinking aobut it (and being toldby munchin that i should calm down and not be so anal) i decided to post the chapters in thier original form**

**DoE out **


	17. The wretched

**The wretched**

* * *

Reaper sent me away. I let him send me away so that he could die alone. _I could have stopped him,_ I lie to myself, _I could have teleported back to his side and found a way for him to survive killing that exorcist._ Even though I barely had the strength to stand and my vision was fading I believe that I could have done something to help, that if I hadn't been so weak he would have lived. The first time in all my years as a necromancer that I've had someone other than Irvine I thought of as an ally and I just let him die. But that thought ends there, when I remember Irvine a great black wave threatens to swallow me and I become lost in my grief.

Somewhere in the background a noise starts, that dreadful wait that I can remember hearing in the background of news coverage whenever there is a major bombing or large scale loss of life. After I begin to shudder and the wail shudders with me I slowly realise that the sound is coming from my own throat. But by then the blackness approaches and I'm beginning to fade myself, somewhere in there I feel strong hands grasping me and see masked faces peering at me, the shaking of their heads seems to indicate worry.

Several days later I sit on the hillside looking out over the Ozmone plains, I haven't moved since the Garif ceremony honouring Reaper's life and mourning his death. The ceremony was a little different for Reaper than for Kaylee since his body was not

* * *

recovered, but since the Garif are warriors first they have plenty of experience with ceremonies for those whose bodies could not be recovered. Rather than burn him and say our prayers over his ashes we watched the setting sun and allowed the red gleam to reflect the flames that should have mourned the loss of a great warrior with us.

For a long time an elder told tales of Reaper's life and his contact with the Garif, from what I gather Reaper had a much longer relationship with the tribe than just the three months spent here with his student, for the elder told many tales of him and a lot of the village people stayed on the hillside remembering for longer than they did at Kaylee's funeral. But by the end of the day I was on the hill alone.

Now on the third day I am hungry but too empty to move, tired but too lost to sleep when the low chief Sugumu comes to speak to me. He says a lot of things, about how I should learn to live with the loss because my allies would not want me to simply stop living because they had, about how knowing loss can make a warrior stronger, about how the Garif see no wrong in taking revenge against Reaper's killer, about training methods that Reaper had used to teach Kaylee that they could share with me to make me strong enough to face my enemy.

In the end it is only when I have ignored him the whole time and he rises to leave that he manages to snap my mind into motion, as he leave he spits with no small disgust, "If you were the one who made the sacrifice and he in your position, would you not want him to resurrect Aeris and acknowledge his last wish?"

That rocks me like a bombshell, I _can_ resurrect Irvine, I _can_get strong enough to live up to the man who gave his life for mine ... and I _can_ live up to his last wish, to find his former comrades Soul and Switchblade.

Ever so slowly I rise.

* * *

I look at the skeleton on the slab in front of me. In a day or two Irvine will be up and about, already the magical particles that make up his body are responding to my blood and rebuilding him from scratch. Now that I'm relatively calm again I've been trying to do something about my bleeding stump of a wrist.

Even the most potent healer in the land couldn't replace my hand until the period of my magical sacrifice is completed. In a year and a day I can regrow my hand as good as new, until then the sacrifice and the spell I cast with it demand that my wound not heal nor that my blood stop flowing from it. Of course my blood is my blood and as a necromancer and a fairly strong blood mage I can easily shape it into a new hand to replace that which I have sacrificed and reroute lost blood to flow back into my system. But that only applies while I retain consciousness, once I pass out or fall asleep I will bleed to death. God only knows how the Garif have kept me from bleeding out the three days I was lost in my own emotions.

The best I can do right now is cast a containment field to trap all the blood I lose so that I can reclaim it once I wake. In order for my brain to have a rest and approach the problem refreshed I relax that train of thought and spend a few minutes playing with the shapes I can make from my flowing 'blood bubble' of a left hand, everything from whips and spears to puppets and smiley faces shape themselves for my short break before I turn my mind back to the problem at hand, as it were.

Through all of this my newly enslaved spirit, the seventh Holy Scripture, hovers behind me, her transparent face blank of emotion and care. Her ethereal beauty unnoticed as the ghost that she is.

* * *

On the morning of the second day of Irvine's resurrection the muscles has started to stretch over his bones and I still stand vigil over him, trying to perfect a spell that will allow me to go through a night without bloodloss.

As the hours wear by I find myself more and more distracted by playing with the possibilities of a hand that can change shape completely according to my will. By the end of the day I've abandoned the problem completely and have begun seriously considering the advantages of my situation when faced with combat. Later on I form some large stone dolls with blood magic and use them to test the limits of my injury's power, I find that a single tentacle formed of that blood can easily cut stone and that I can force each finger to act as such. I also find that I can make my nails extend and retract to act as incredibly sharp stabbing weapons.

Through all this seven watches me impassively.

* * *

At morning on the third day Irvine's skin is mostly in place and by midday he is complete, from that point on I need only wait for his soul to migrate from the ruined corpse he currently inhabits to the fresh body I have prepared for him.

Not having found a way to sleep without losing blood and not having slept since beginning the ritual my desperation has reached its peak. I pace back and forth across the room and then I turn suddenly to find a passive and expressionless face behind me. I'm momentarily startled and I jump before recognising the face of seven. Then I shrink in fear for a moment until I remember that I stole her will and sealed her to my service.

"Seven! How long have you been standing behind me like that?" in my startled state I cant manage something better.

"Five days and fifteen hours have passed since you sealed me and I have not left your side since."

Looking at seven now I suddenly feel that something is wrong, it takes me several minutes standing perfectly still in thought but then it hits me, ever since I realised that I would die of bloodloss if I slept the struggling of Seven's soul in my necklace has stopped.

I tug it free from the inside of my bra, and look at it carefully. To my horror the tiny figure of seven representing her free will is not struggling at all, it simply smiles at me contentedly.

After several minutes of panic at what that could mean I stop and look at my new slave, "Seven, can you stop my bloodloss?"

"Yes mistress." With the flat, dead reply the figure in my hand stops smiling and looks alarmed.

I release the constraints stopping my blood loss and look at my wrist, the blood continues to flow. _Hmm,_ it would appear that even with her will stolen seven will not go out of her way to be helpful to me, I have to give the orders directly and in no uncertain terms, "Do so now Seven."

In a rush of fabric and swirling light I am encased in pitch black nun's robes.

"What is this seven?"

Her voice enters my mind directly this time, _I am manifesting myself as dark armour, even in situations where I cannot heal a wound caused by blood magic as long as you wear me in this fashion I can stop the injury from progressing._

"Dark armour?" before seven answers I amend my statement, "When conferring information unto me Seven, you will present everything you know on the subject that is directly pertinent to what I wish to know within the bounds of what it is practical to tell me in the situation." There, I rather hope I've covered enough loopholes with that command, this way at least she cannot conceal information from me and she cant use an order not to conceal information to distract me with pointless facts in battle.

The pendant still in my hand writhes in agony as I wring more and more concessions from it, _Yes, mistress. All exorcists wear amour enchanted by darkness in order to deflect the attacks of your kind. Naturally this makes the weak to the Holy element, but since most exorcists absorb Holy energy their armour amplifying its effects on their bodies only adds to the effectiveness of their absorption. However-er-er-er-er,_ seven begins to shudder as though trying to resist some powerful force, I look down and see the sealed will of the scripture struggling to resist me through it's confinement, this must be truly threatening information to the HOLY MOTHER. I harden my will and slap back the restraint stopping her from speaking,_ since the war against the last great necromancer army the numbers of exorcists were greatly decreased, many of the new recruits are not up to the standards of their predecessors. A lot of the lower ranked exorcists and almost all of the regular soldiers of HOLY MOTHER cannot absorb holy energy, yet they still wear dark amour to combat necromancy and blood magic. Of course this means that most low ranking necromancers are extremely vulnerable to holy attacks. _

At first I think there is no possible way I could get information more valuable than this but in my hand the seven in the pendant begins to weep against the bars of her cage and the body of seven continues, _of course this goes for my armour form as well. When in this state I can protect you completely from the attacks of other necromancers' blood and dark magics but my weakness to holy will compound on yours, making you twice again as weak to the element as a normal necromancer. However while I am in your possession you will have access to my weapon forms which will allow you to make attacks with the holy element, a feat previously impossible to you as a dark entity._

With dawning shock I finally begin to realise exactly what I have here, first of all I realise what my command has wrought upon seven's behaviour. Secondly it dawns on me that if HOLY MOTHER has even a shadow of a clue of how their weapons and armour work (and it is almost inconceivable that they do not) I have just been bumped up to the biggest threat they have faced since the uprising. If I don't master seven and my powers as a necromancer _really _quickly I'm dead. Thirdly if I don't leave soon then the desire to kill me might not outweigh HOLY MOTHER's desire to avoid conflict with the Garif.

I quietly bid seven to return to her normal form and once again take personal control of my flowing blood. I command her to take armour form and stop the blood flow any time my control of the blood should slip. Then I command her to tell me as much about using her power as she can before Irvine wakes.

Once Irvine wakes we will have to flee the village and seek out powerful necromancers to teach me, it is unfortunate that I will not be able to use the training techniques Reaper left behind in Jahara but I do know the names of his two surviving comrades. Hopefully they will agree to teach me until I can become powerful enough to have HOLY MOTHER leave me alone.

But for now Seven talks and I listen.

**

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AN: Haha! It seems I can only write one chapter in a night unlike my plan to write two. **

**This chapter by Guild member DoE.**

**No update for this tomorrow, need to work on KC and fox of mibu **


	18. Munchin the underworld

**Munchin the underworld  
**

* * *

I woke up to find that I was flat on my face. _What the fuck._ I thought. _I swear I was meant to be dead. It's too cold to be hell._ I sat up and looked around but it was pitch black "Aeris, Aeris are you here?" I called out.

I stood up but the ground started to move so I sat back down and made a fireball appear in my hand. It lit up the area surrounding me and I saw that I was sitting in a flimsy little wooden rowing boat. The boat was about 6 feet long and with Aeris laying down I had a whole 7 inches of space for myself. I looked outside the boat and the little I could see was just water. It made me feel thirsty but I didn't want to drink it. The water looked like it had come from the British coast; it was all green and mucky. I created a few more fireballs and made them float around the boat. With that I could see that on two sides there were walls. It was dark for a reason and that reason is that we are in a tunnel. I sat back and waited for Aeris to wake up and tell we what the hells going on.

I had waited for hours already but she still hadn't woken up, it had felt like hours but I had no way of telling the time. I tried poking her, kicking her, I even electrocuted her but she didn't wake up, in the end I gave up and decided to wait. I was so bored that I actually used alchemy to make a fishing rod and I decided to fish. I didn't know if there were any fishes in the water but hell I had nothing else to do. The most annoying thing though wasn't the fact I was bored but the fact it was so quiet, the boat wasn't even moving fast enough to make a sound in the water. It didn't creek, just nothing. If it wasn't for the sound of Aeris breathing I would've thought I was deaf.

After a while I felt tired and I decided that sleep would probably be more fun then being awake so I decided to sleep. I laid down on top of Aeris since it was the only place I could sleep and pretty soon I was fast asleep.

The next morning I woke up to find Aeris awake and looking bored. "Morning." I said.

"How can you tell?" she asked sarcastically.

"Well, you have been dead before, so what should I expect?"

She glared at me. It was one of them glares where you just know to shut up otherwise something really bad will happen to you. I decided to leave the subject where it was and I looked out into the water. "We should expect weeks, maybe even months on this boat, and then we meet the gate keeper." She saw the confused look on my face and decided to explain in more detail. "The gate keeper is like a doorman. He is the one guarding the gate to the underworld; he judges you and determines if you are worthy to enter or not to enter."

"What if he thinks you are not worthy?"

"Then your soul returns to the planet to enter a new body."

"You mean as in a baby, you start from scratch."

"Yes."

"So you're saying this isn't my first body, I have had multiple ones."

"Maybe, maybe not. New souls are created all the time but some are recycled. If it makes you feel any better, you will get in."

"How do you know?"

"When a Necromancer dies it is his/her guardian who decides if they enter the underworld or if they are to be recycled."

"So it is up to you if I enter or not, and you said I will enter."

"Yes, now when we get in there it is an exact replica of the world we just left, there is even day and night, heat, cold and all the different types of weather, it is exactly the same except for one thing."

"What's that?"

"There is no sun."

"Then how is there day and night?"

"I haven't got a clue. Only one person knows and he is the lord of the under dead."

"Who's that?"

"I have never met him; I only know a few things about him. He is the most powerful Necromancer to ever live and he was given the title by the previous lord. He knows all the secrets of the underworld even how to go back to Ivalice."

"If he knows how to go back then why doesn't he?"

"He has a few times, but why go back when you rule the underworld? He controls everything down here, he lives in luxury, there is no need for him to go back when he has everything down here."

"I see your point."

"Where can I find this lord of the under dead?"

"I don't know. A little while ago he was attacked by some Exorcists and his palace was destroyed."

"How long ago and did he die?"

"In a way he cannot die, he can be killed but he just comes back. The only problem with it is that when he is killed he has to gain his powers back from scratch. Also it was only a couple months ago."

"If it was only a couple of months ago then how do you know that it happened?"

"When a Necromancer summons his/her first undead they stay with them but they also keep a connection to the underworld."

"So when we get there, will there be food, some god damn water, and a better place to sleep then a boat?"

"No, there is no food or drink, when you are in the underworld you do not need such things."

"So we are just going to stave."

"Once you step through the gates your hunger and thirst goes away for good."

"Well what about now, how do we get some food and water now?"

"We don't, there is nothing around, it is just water. You are meant to stave; the look of hunger on your face when you reach the gate keeper is one of his weird pleasures."

"Well I need to eat, how about we speed along this little pleasure cruise?"

With that said I put my hand at the end of the boat and created a beam of energy which shot us forward. It was like we were in a speed boat. Water was spaying up on both sides of the boat. We sat in silence for a long while, I don't know how long it was but it was a long time. It had been hours and we were both feeling tired so I stopped powering the boat and laid down with Aeris. "I know you want to go back topside. You have unfinished business there but I don't get how you are going to do it." Aeris said wrapping her arms around me.

"The lord of the under dead can send me back." I said smiling at her.

"No, that is the stupidest thing to come out of your mouth to date. You do not simply go up to Lord Shadow and ask for him to send you back. It is a quick way to becoming one of his Necromancer slaves. There are some things worse then death and Shadow brings them to the people around him."

"I can handle myself. What is the worse that can happen, he says no?"

"You cannot handle yourself against this guy, he is the Lord of the under dead for a reason. He will strike you down with ease."

"Well see, it's not like I'm planning on fighting him."

"You should because he will want to fight you. Now go to sleep I have had enough of your nonsense for one day."

After she said that we stopped talking. I swear sometimes I think that she is the Necromancer the way to goes about giving me orders.

The next day consisted of the same routine and the day after as well. It wasn't until my 8th day on this boat that I noticed that the walls were moving apart. I pointed this out to Aeris and she told me that we were near the end. There was a light ahead of us; you know that typical light at the end of the tunnel, now I know where they get it from. I could feel the anticipation build up inside me as we got closer to the light. We passed through the light and appeared in the middle of what looked like a lake. I stopped the boat and looked around. It was light out but very misty so you still couldn't see shit. Through the mist I could barely see a small dock and I turn the boat and head for that direction. The dock was literally a tiny wooden pier with barely enough room to fit one boat. "They really go out of there way to make us feel special don't they?" I asked Aeris sarcastically.

"Why are you complaining? You will be here for less then 5 minutes, suck it up." She said getting out of the boat.

"Wow, are you always this cheerful when you're dead?"

"I'm sorry; I just don't like this part."

We walked onto the embankment and up the path towards the gate. The path was well lit and you could see it all even through the mist. We reached the gate and it was at least 30 feet tall and made of gold. The gate was split into two and both parts were connected to a stone frame. It was situated in the middle of nowhere, the gate connected to nothing. "So what now Aeris?" I asked.

"You open the gate."

"It is 30 feet tall and must weight a ton. Can't I just walk around it?"

"The portal will not open until the gate is open."

I walked up to the gate and pulled on the handle. The gate swung open with ease and just behind the gate a portal opened. "Ha, that was easy." I said a bit smugly.

"It's meant to be." Aeris said walking past me to the portal. "Get your weapon out, the gatekeeper isn't here something's up."

Aeris slowly crept through the portal with her staff drawn. I followed closely behind her with my sword out. We walked through the portal and appeared in the underworld Rabanastre. It looked like the Rabanastre on Ivalice; there were a mixture of Bangaa, Humes, and every other race on Ivalice. They didn't take any notice to us and just carried on with their shopping. "Aeris." I said.

"No, everything's fine, but what happened to the gatekeeper, we'll go to the local tavern, see if we can get anybody to talk." Aeris said putting her weapon away.

We walked to the Sandsea and got a couple of drink. We sat down at a table and looked around the bar. "Hmm, most of these are mundanes; they won't know where to find Shadow." I said.

"Yeah, I see a witch and a werewolf." Aeris said. "But they won't be able to help. We need a Necromancer."

As she said that the door to the bar opened and a man walked in. This guy was quite tall, well taller then me anyway; he was wearing a pale white ankle length coat, light brown leather chaps over blues jeans and a tight black tee. I stood up since I had recognised the guy, he looked over and when he saw me a look of worry shot over his face. I waved him over but he was in front of me before I could even finish. "Tell me she is alright!" he said with a 'you don't want to lie to me tone.'

"Yes, she is fine Irvine, I sent her away before finishing the fight."

I signalled over to the barkeep for another lot of drink. "Sit down, I'll tell you what happened."

As I went through the story his face started to lighten up, he even smiled during bits. "Ok I've told my story." I said when I had finished. "Do you know where I can find Shadow or somebody who can lead me to him?"

"Yes I do. I know one of the scientists who work for him, we're drinking buddies. I can't get you to Shadow but my friend might."

"Where do you go drinking together?"

"In Balfonheim, but he said he lives down here now so we were meeting in here pretty soon."

Irvine scrunched up his face in pain. He began to shake and just as quickly as it began it had finished. "She is summoning you." Aeris said. "It is almost complete."

"Can you do me a favour?" I asked Irvine. "It's to do with Darkness."

"Of course, anything." He said once again shaking.

"Could you tell her that…"

I didn't get to finish what I had wanted to say as he had vanished from underworld.

I turned to Aeris. "No we wait."

**

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**

**A/N: It is a short chapter but it is only a beginning for the underworld chapters. There will be a good fight in the next one, so there is something to look forward to.**

**Written by Kel's guild of Authors**

**Guild member - Munchinmonster**


	19. Hollowman

**Hollowman**

* * *

We had been sitting in the tavern for almost 8 hours now, Aeris was drunk and I was annoyed because I didn't know when this guy was going to turn up, I didn't know his name, what he looked like, all I know is that he works for Shadow, which means he is probably a Necromancer. For all I know he could've come and gone already.

I looked over to Aeris and shook my head. She had passed out and was laid across the table. I went to put her into a more comfortable position when I heard people talking from the bar below us. I walked over to the edge of the landing and looked down.

"You just keep looking at that door Odine, are you waiting for someone?" the barkeep said.

"Vell ves, I am vaiting for my friend." The guy called Odine said.

"What does he work with you?"

"No, he's an ol' friend vho's been topside vith his Necromancer."

"You are Irvine's friend ain't you?" I asked from above.

"Ves, vho are you?" Odine asked a bit suspicious.

"My name is Reaper. I am a friend of Irvine and his Necromancer."

"I have never seen vou before."

"This is my first time here, I have only just died."

"And vhat are you, Necromancer, Vitch?"

"Necromancer, Irvine said just before he went back topside that you were the only person he trusted to watch out for us." I lied.

"Irvine knovs I am a very busy man."

"Irvine knew how important what I needed was."

After I said that I seemed to have his interest because he picked up his drink and bought it over to my table. As he sat down he looked at Aeris and let out a little chuckle. "Hov long have vou been here?" He asked.

"About 8 hours since Irvine went topside, so about 8 ½ to 9 hours."

"A very long time."

"Yes, but I didn't want to miss you, I knew this might be my only time to actually meet you."

"Vhy did Irvine vant us to meet?"

"Straight to business I can do that. I need an audience with Shadow."

"Is dis some sort of a joke. No one gets an audience vith da lord. Plus I am not stupid enough to take you to him." He said before standing up and going back to the bar.

I nudged Aeris to wake her up. "Huh, wha?" She asked still very drunk.

I slit my wrist and shoved it into her mouth, it took her a few seconds to realise what happened but once she realise I was giving her blood she took it. Once she had taken her fill she pulled away and healed my wrist. "You know I don't need to feed anymore." She said.

"I know but it is the quickest way to sober you up that I know. We need to be ready to leave at a moments notice."

"How can you let me get drunk? That's why I don't drink." She mumbled.

"Not now." I waved her away. "That guy down at the bar, when he leaves we follow him."

"Ok, but why?"

"He works for Shadow; hopefully he will lead us to him."

"Why don't we just force him to take us?"

"He is more scared of Shadow then us. He'll tell us nothing; the quickest way to Shadow is this way."

"I think I'll have a drink while we wait." Aeris said standing up.

"No alcohol. I'll have some cactus water." I called as she walked to the bar.

We spent another 4 hours sitting in that tavern waiting for the scientist to leave. He looked really bored and I knew he was sitting there waiting for us to go. It was then that I had a brainwave. "Aeris come on lets go." I said standing up.

"But he hasn't left."

"I know, I'll explain outside."

I walked down the stairs and towards Odine. "I'm staying at this hotel. Come by if you happen to change your mind." I said to him before walking out of the door.

I stood outside and looked around. "There." I said pointing towards an alleyway on the other side of the street and a little to the left.

We waited in the alley for almost 30 minutes before Odine left the tavern and walked towards the central area (The place surrounded by east, west, and south gate). I put an illusion spell over Aeris and myself. What the spell does is it blends you in with the people around you, people can see you but they don't recognise you. We followed Odine and he kept on looking over his shoulder like he thought he was being followed. We decided to hold back a bit and gave him a little room, he may not b able to recognise us but he will still be able to tell if we are following him. He carried on towards the east gate and walked through. Because we were a little way behind him the gate had closed before we had got to it. Aeris went towards the guard to ask him to open it when I held her back. "No, if he hears the gate opening and sees us walk through he will get suspicious." I said.

I grabbed hold of Aeris hand and jumped up onto the gate. We landed on top and I saw him walk into the Estersands. He went round a corner and I teleported to where he was and hid behind the cliff watching him. _You may be wondering why I didn't teleport in the first place, well it is because I am not like Darkness in light, I cannot just teleport anywhere. For me to be able to teleport I need to be able to see my destination. Also the reason I was able to teleport Darkness out of the Jagd because I used her powers and not mine._ I watched him go around corner after corner and I followed him like a ninja. I had to be careful because I didn't want him to know that I was following him and there is some magic I could use to hide myself but I cannot make myself completely invisible, so there is no point.

He began to walk across the plains. Now this is where it gets tricky, the plains are void of anything to hide behind, so I had to stay where I was but I didn't want him to get too much of a lead. I decided the only thing I could do was to sit back and wait for him to cross the plains.

It took him almost 2 hours to cross the plains and once he was across it took me 2 seconds to teleport that distance. We continued to follow him and I could tell that Aeris was starting to get annoyed. She is not one who can stalk someone for hours on end; she always has to have something to do. Usually she is fine with long walks but because we are following Dr. Odine we are on a strict no talking policy. I couldn't afford for him to hear us.

We followed him until it was dark out. Because there is no sun the moon doesn't shine in the night sky which means it is pitch black out. Already I have walked into several walls and rocks but I cannot afford to create a light because Dr. Odine will see the glow. Luckily Dr. Odine was using a torch so we could see a small glow to tell us that he was still there. I looked at my watch and it said the time was 3.30AM. It has been 16 ½ hours since Irvine went back topside, which means I have gone almost 24 hours without any sleep, and it was starting to catch up with me. Aeris grabbed my arm and pulled me back. I looked at her with an 'explain' expression on my face. She didn't say anything and I realised that she probably couldn't see my face. I was about to speak up when I heard voices. I listened and understood why she pulled me back. Dr. Odine had stopped moving and was talking to someone. I couldn't see who he was talking to but it didn't sound human. I reached out and did a sensor sweep on the area.

The sensor told me that there were two gargoyles with Dr. Odine. "I may have been followed." Dr. Odine said. "Keep a look out."

"We will keep watch but we are here to guard the entrance not to look for someone who may or may not be there."

Its voice was like a deep deathly howl. When it spoke it sent a shiver down my back. Aeris tugged on my sleeve and indicated for me to follow her. Once we were a good distance she spoke up. "So what is guarding the entrance?" She asked.

"Two gargoyles."

"That will be a problem they are made from stone and have the ability to manipulate it, meaning that the entrance is blocked and only they can open it."

"I'm guessing we can't ask them to open it."

"No, they'll turn us into statues before we even spoke."

"Can we manipulate them, somehow control them?"

"No, they have no bloodstream so that type of blood magic will not work on them."

"Then how do we get in?"

"If they are destroyed then the rocks will return to their natural formation and hopefully that will make the door open."

"So we have to destroy them before they turn us to stone and hope that the door opens. Doesn't seem very promising."

"What other choice do we have?"

"Gargoyles turn into stone during the day don't they?"

"Not in the underworld, because there is no sun they stay awake 24/7."

"Perhaps Pys imposion will work."

"We need a back up."

"If it doesn't work then we'll be statues, there won't be time for a 2nd attack."

We walked back to the entrance and hid around the corner. I gave a signal to Aeris and she ran back the way we came and went down another route. The plan is for her to distract them while I blow them up. I saw a faint glow of a torch coming from the entrance and heard Aeris speak. "Opps, I must've taken a wrong turn." She said.

I jumped out and concentrated on both of the gargoyles and they exploded. I noticed that they had turned Aeris into stone but now that they are dead she started to turn back to normal. As she was returning to normal I checked out the hole that was opening up in the wall. The doorway opened fully and it opened up into a corridor which was lit by loads of torches. Aeris touched me on the shoulder and we walked in. The corridor was quite long but once we reached the end it opened up into a massive hall. This hall was massive about the size of two soccer pitches. It was also very elegantly made. The floors were marble and there were some of the most beautiful tapestries hanging on the wall. The weirdest thing though was the windows. We were in the side of a mountain but the windows showed a brilliant view of a garden with the biggest assortments of flowers and plants that you will ever see.

"Where is Shadow?" Aeris asked.

I put my hand to the floor but nothing came out. I tried again but still nothing. "Hmm, seems to be an anti-blood magic field around this place." I said.

"That will make things very difficult. Firstly we don't know where he is and this place is massive and secondly, if this does turn into a fight we have lost a major weapon." Aeris said sounding very concerned.

We heard footsteps coming from the corridor to our right so we ran and hid behind the stairs. It wouldn't be good for us to get into a fight as soon as we got here. The person came into view and he looked like a typical butler except he was dead and had his flesh peeling off of his body. He walked towards us and stood at the bottom of the stairs. "Come with me please. Lord Shadow wishes to see you." He said sounding a lot like Geoffrey from the fresh prince of Bel-air.

We followed him and he led us back in the direction he had come from. We went down two flights of stairs, down about 8 corridors, down another flight of stairs, and down even more corridors. In short this place is a maze, there is no way we would've found Shadow if this thing wasn't leading the way. The butler who I have renamed Geoffrey by now opened a double door and told us to enter. We walked in and as soon as we entered the door slammed shut behind us.

The room was big, really big. It looked a lot like the inside of a church. It had stain glass windows, huge pillars holding up the roof, and more marble flooring. The pillars had skeletons half hanging out of them. It looked a lot like the faith wall in FFX but with dead people. In the middle of the hall was a massive pit. This pit was about 10 meters in lengths and was a perfect circle. I looked in but couldn't see the bottom, there was too much fire blocking the way. "Looks a bit like the gates hell." I said to myself as I observed it.

"Beautiful isn't it." A woman said.

This woman was very beautiful, she had long black hair, her skin was a natural tan colour, but she had the weirdest colour eyes, they were blood red. She was wearing a red bikini top with black mini pants and her arms and legs were wrapped in a red cloth. "Hi." I said a bit on edge. "Who are you?"

"You know it is polite to introduce yourself first."

"I'm reaper and this is Aeris. Who are you?"

"Renoa leave our guest alone." Somebody said from the shadows.

I looked over and this guy appeared out of nowhere. It was like he walked through the wall. The guy looked very pale, he was wearing a long black hooded jacket, baggy pants and a pair of black combat boots. He also wore a pair of round sunglasses. "Can you even see through them?" I asked.

"Why are you here?" He asked ignoring my question.

"Straight to business, ok I can live with that. I need to go back to Ivalice and I heard you were the only one capable of making it happen."

"Yes I am, but why would I do it for you?"

"I'm sure we can come to an agreement."

"Well I am in need of an A class Necromancer to add to my collection. This way I will have complete control of the demons and will not have to resort to drastic measures to summon them."

"Wait, you cannot summon the demons?"

"No, I lost that ability a long time ago."

"So here's the deal. If you send me topside then I will send a Necromancer down for you."

"Why would I agree to that when I have an A class Necromancer right here."

As he finished saying that chains shot up out of the ground and wrapped themselves around me. They tightened to the point where I couldn't move and they began to pull me into the ground.

**

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**

**A/N: Ok, I'm going to leave it here for now since it is almost 4AM and I am tired. The next underworld chapter will be the big fight between myself and Shadow.**


	20. Trollhammaren

**Trollhammaren**

_

* * *

Save the Fairyland we live in_

_Where my failings are forgiven_

_Feel like hunted by a Griffin_

_I'm falling straight down..._

_Catch my Daydream_

* * *

Irvine, seven and I are currently in the Golmore jungle, far enough from anywhere that I wont have to risk civilian deaths if exorcists attack and inside the safety of Jagd Difohr so I can fight them off if they do. We're discussing what to do next, after leaving Jahara for the safety of out Garif friends we headed straight for a safe zone to plot and plan the best way to search out information concerning Reaper's old allies Soul and Switchblade, this wont be something we can just stick up posters for after all. Well ... that is what we're _supposed_

to be doing, I'm actually spinning in circles and singing fairyland ... badly. It's not like I know the actual lyrics anyway, just spinning around and singing as loudly as I can I feel like a giddy schoolgirl.

But where would I find one of those in the jungle?

At that incongruous thought I collapse onto the wooden walkway laughing, I just cant help it today.

"What happened to you? I haven't seen you this happy since you came to Ivalice," Irvine doesn't sound worried, in fact his voice carries an undertone indicating that he rather likes the situation.

Eventually I get myself under control enough to answer, "What's not to be happy about now? I have you back, we're back in Jagd, where we belong and once we find Reaper's former comrades there should be nothing stopping us from reviving him. You said yourself that he was fine in the netherworld and that a sufficiently powerful necromancer could call him back, who more powerful than his old comrades who fought in that war at his side?"

Apparently despite himself Irvine smiles at my enthusiasm, of course I'd never show this side of myself if even one person other than him was present, but it's just the two of us now ... and seven, but I think of her more as a weapon than another person since her will is divorced from the elements that make up the rest of her 'self'.

Smiling widely I pull Irvine to myself and begin a mock tussle as we roll on the ground. Just as his lips find mine and I wrap my arms about him to draw our bodies into still closer contact seven clears her throat.

"Mistress, as per your standing orders I am required to inform you that further dalliance will impact on your decision making and you risk discovery by HOLY MOTHER if we stay in one place too long or take too long to formulate our plans."

My face sours and both Irvine and I stop our play and remain still holding each other, after a moment Irvine speaks up, "She's right love, we should plot and plan and once we've decided on our course of action we can find a hotel in some town and send her to the movies for the afternoon."

Such a dry and sarcastic statement really drive home for me that Irvine truly is back and my wide smile returns as we sit down, we will plot and we will plan and later on I will order seven to be silent for a few hours.

* * *

Eventually we decide not to teleport anywhere, if exorcists are going to start targeting me – even if news of three more exorcist deaths hasn't got out yet it will very soon – then I am very well known to them, having been their most wanted for four months now, and after this probably quite a while to come, and they will know in detail exactly how I normally operate. That means I will have to change my whole routine, new clothes so that I don't stick out as 'a necromancer garbed as an exorcist', I will have to stop spending time in Jagd at all where I can avoid it and I will have to limit myself to travelling by save crystals and airships.

Currently we are headed to the village of Eruyt to beg the Viera there to let us use their teleport crystal and possibly to buy some new clothing. Along the way I have been trying something new, when I ordered seven to give me any information she had concerning exorcist battle tactics she told me about something called 'rokushiki' which is a set of six techniques which make exorcist almost undefeatable via hand to hand methods. As part of an earlier order to do everything in her power to improve my strength she theorised that if I were to completely relax my upper body while she was in her armour form she would be able to use them through me.

Frankly it has not been as grand a success as I had hoped, my long trained instincts wont allow me to submit control to her fully, even if I know that she is totally bonded to my will I do not trust her. As a consequence the skills of rokushiki are slowed greatly and strike less effectively than my normal combat methods, further more because of the nature of her armour form she cannot control my legs rendering three of the techniques out of my reach.

The shigan technique is a very powerful piercing attack with the finger, I have managed to kill a few of the wandering monsters with it, but my mistrust is making it very slow and easy to evade for creatures more powerful than these common beasts. The Kamie skill that allows the user to flutter like paper around incoming blows is also weakened in this manner. The only skill I can use fully is Tekkai, a technique that hardens the body to take any blow.

But of the six skills there are three that rely on leg power and since seven's armour form for me is a nun's habit I cant sue them at all. Rankyaku which creates long range 'cutting air' strikes, soru which moves the user with speed comparable to my own ground contractor without the magical drain and geppou which allows the user to jump with nothing to brace their feet against but air.

Frankly imitating these techniques through seven seems pointless to me, but by using them I have gained somewhat of a better idea of fighting against them.

_Mistress!_

The mental link with Seven that I have when she takes a physical form never ceases to scare the schlit out of me when she talks into my mind, but I respond to the direction her thoughts are pointing and turn.

Just in time apparently as I manage to raise an arm encased in seven armour to block a strike from some new assailant. The unknown threat turns out to be a young man, perhaps a year or two my junior, with midnight skin and dreadlocks, his finger remains pressed to my arm and his dark eyes meet mine. _Finger?_

My eyes widen as I recognise his stance and the attack he just assaulted me with, "Shigan," I breathe silently in disbelief, after all I was just told it was an exorcist technique and this man's aura tastes of blood magic, clearly a necromancer.

His smile is feral in my face as he replies, "Yeah,"

_No it isn't, he uses blood magic to strengthen his arm, it isn't the true technique but an imitation._

"What are you doing here? The treaty between HOLY MOTHER and the council of village councils says that an exorcist will never enter a village with no non-Viera living there."

"I am not bound by any treaty made by HOLY MOTHER."

"Tch, exorcist bastards! You think you can break your agreements just because it suits you? _Soru!_"

I speak up to tell him that I'm not an exorcist at all but he has already blurred out of my sight, as seven hardens my back to stop his blow she speaks to me with serious worry in her voice, _that soru was the real thing, it was a purely physical movement skill. Even if his shigan is not complete this boy is a rokushiki user._

I scream in pain as his finger pierces my shoulder from behind, where is Irvine? I look over and see him, he is battling two women – servants by my guess – and easily dominating them due to their weakness in Jagd, but another male necromancer is supporting them from range with some sort of wind elemental spirit magic, preventing him from aiding me.

Seeing my partner's condition proves costly as the dreadlocked one's attacks manage to pierce seven's tekkai four more times and I fall to my knees in pain. I just can't beat this kid's rokushiki.

Then it occurs to me that I'm making a mistake, I'm not a rokushiki user, I realised that today, so why am I trying to fight him with rokushiki? We are in Jagd and I am darkness in light, in Jagd no one is stronger than I am, so why the hell aren't I fighting like it?

The shallow wounds caused by the boy's shigan seal themselves quickly with a little assist from seven and the breached armour closes back us as well, from under my left glove a little blood flows and forms a pistol, with my hand as it is I don't even need to cut myself to let some out. I keep it hidden behind my sleeve as I turn to face the attacking necromancer.

I meet his eyes and he doesn't seem truly shocked that I can still stand, he expects what he believes to be an exorcist to be a great challenge, "HAHAHA! Exorcist scum! How do you feel to know that a necromancer is better than you at your so-called holy art?"

In response to his boast I tilt my head and smile, I am me now, I can do this, "Shigan!"

He takes the feint and easily uses soru to evade my slower technique, he begins to laugh from behind me at how much slower than his my technique is, then he gets cut off with a bang.

My bullet, enchanted with forced teleportation magic, hits his leg and returns him to the place he has just vacated. As the coup de grace I turn seven back to her spirit form and free my hand of blood to burst into a profusion of bloody needle points which lash out and impale him through a dozen places on his torso.

As I hold him off the ground I speak back to him, "So much for shigan, I like my version better ... perhaps I'll call it chigan"

* * *

Once he saw my blood hand the black guy changed instantly, he realised that we were a necromancer and her servant rather than a pair of exorcists and suddenly he seems like he has no reason to fight anyone and not a care in the world. Once he stopped fighting his servant and the other one both pulled back and the other necromancer came out into the open, revealing an almost disgustingly pretty face.

The black guy is Kel, the black road and the bishie is called the whisperer of the void, their servants are Quistis and Lulu. As soon as we stopped fighting Kel's wounds basically vanished and we all sat down to share news while we wait for the Viera to notice we're here and give as a chance to ask for entry.

Kel was out on some mission in the Paramina rift – apparently he's a famous assassin, at least he seemed offended that I didn't know of him – and found that HOLY MOTHER has warded all the major cities to locate _someone_ when they teleport into town. Not wanting to attract notice he started walking toward Dalamasca by the overland route. The other is someone he met on his way and for some reason decided to teach the rokushiki to, neither seems to want to share the details of that.

After half an hour of pointless chatting whisperer finally said something that interests me when he found out that I am the one called darkness in light, "SERIOUSLY? Wow the ex's seriously want you lady. You're supposed to be their biggest threat now that the Reaper is dead. Did you really take down three exorcists?"

I blink in shock at his excited tone, "Wha... no. I tricked the exorcist called the divine legion into walking into friendly fire and I killed the seraphic assassin outright and," I gesture behind me, "stole his spirit partner. I was there when the amalaric sniper died but it wasn't me who struck him down."

The pretty boy gives a low whistle, his servant, sitting in his lap with his arms about her, looks much less impressed, "We should get her on our team for the tourney man. Holy weapon and the skills to take on exorcists? We'd be guaranteed top spot."

"Tourney?"

It is the, until now, silent servant of the black road who responds, "Our masters have formed a team for the upcoming King of the dead tournament. It is to be hosted by a pair of A-class, god-ranked necromancers and the grand prize is that each member of the winning team can make a request of them that they may not refuse unless it is beyond their ability or it endangers their life. A great many necromancers understand the value of such a boon and will likely arrive to take part."

Any boon? An a-class could easily return Reaper from the underworld, sure it will mean putting my search for his former comrades on hold, but if I can revive Reaper then he can lead me to them if need be. And then he would be back, the weight of his death would no longer be mine to carry.

I try to hide my excitement, "Oh? And what do you want that you think only a god-ranked can give you?"

Black looks embarrassed, "It's a little silly, but I want apple trees."

The whisperer bursts out laughing, "I'm, I'm sorry, but every ... every time he says that ... god I can't help laughing."

This guy just rubs me the wrong way somehow and I sound a little snippy when I reply, "I think it's a damn good desire. There are no earth fruits on Ivalice so what's wrong with wanting something from home? I suppose you want money or power?"

"Oh gods no! That sort of shit just makes people want to do you in, I want a taste of earth too! I want a dozen Earth girls brought over to fill my Harem!"

In his lap Quistis narrows her eyes, stands and walks away from him a short distance, "Don't be like that Quistis, you'll always be my favourite, you will be like the emperor's head wife, lording it over all the lesser wives and having privileged position. Besides, I _know_ you secretly want a threesome."

"You're kidding," I cant believe my ears, "Why not just take women from Ivalice?" I try to reason my way away from this subject, but somehow my mind seems stuck here, despite myself I think that rather than ordering seven away next time Irvine and I want to be alone I might have her assist...

"True, a lot of the local girls are good too, I just want a little taste of home like you said ... maybe there's room in my little harem for a few Ivalice girls too. Hmm, I wonder how Viera are in bed..."

Suddenly a soft snort comes from my left and a pair of sentries vanish into the dense green of the forest, somehow I just _know_ this fool has managed to offend the one who was sent to decide if we should be allowed to enter Eruyt.

I rise in rage and bring my fist down atop his head with no small force, "Way to make sure we never get to use their teleport crystal dickhead!"

**

* * *

**

You of course dont know the black road this time around, his intro chapter got cut for the repost. All you need to know is that he is constructed entirely from shonen and fuelled by one piece. Oh! And that he's kel's fault

**Shigan vs chigan –** that is a really bad pun on my part. Shigan means finger bullet and chigan means blood bullet.

**And there we have it, I now join Kel and Gale who are travelling toward a goal that I dont mind meeting. And gale has made me angry already.**

**This chapter by guild member DoE**


	21. DotA

**Vi sitter i ventrilo och spelar lite DotA**

* * *

Oh my god – soooo bored. Very not happy be desu! Seriously, whoever thought this plan up needs to be stabbed in the face. That said – I'm gonna look fairly foolish if it turns out I did.

See, right now all six of us are wandering around the great crystal at Giruvegan and killing damn well horrendously weak coerul looking things while we try and figure out where all the mythril golems are hiding. At some point last night someone pointed out that we had over a month left before the tournament actually started and that we should head out to make special preparations. Then, while Road and Whisperer were planning to exchange training with each other so that they could cover their own weaknesses, Road would teach Whisperer Rokushiki to cover his weaknesses in close combat and Whisperer would teach Road the method for creating original spirit magic so that Road wouldn't he stuck using the fairly predictable magics in the necromancer manual. I was going to basically sit around and maybe practice with Seven a little, perhaps work on a new spirit spell of two of my own.

Then I stupidly mentioned holy attacks giving me an advantage over other necromancers. So someone suggested that we go learn some holy magic since that would benefit the whole team. I wanted to go look for a pair of likely looking exorcists, kill them and take their seraphim for my team mates. The servants stepped on that idea, _hard_, Quistis and Lulu both told me off for even suggesting that their masters get involved with that level of danger, Irvine really brought it home when he pointed out that if I found an exorcist strong enough to absorb the holy element I would be able to neither defend not attack using Seven and since I was doing the hunting we would probably be outside of Jagd. Without any of my advantages I would be ... what were his exact words? Oh yes – "Fucked like a chocolate kitten in a sack full of bricks in a river of lava." Rather colourful expression that one.

So after the long pause as I considered just exactly _how_ stupid my plan was someone else suggested that we get holy weapons to fight with. Since almost all the holy weapons of Ivalice are long since in the hands of HOLY MOTHER we have no choice but to have some made. Raise your hand if you know the ingredients for a holy weapon? What's that you can remember the wyrmhero sword? Yeah but the items used to craft that beastie are all unique, meaning that the one blade made from them is also unique and already in the hands of the enemy. Any others?

Eventually we realised that the only holy weapon we could hope to make was the whale whisker, and that between us we were _somehow_ able to find out the full list of materials needed. Then arose the 'so where do we get Aquarius gems?' question. Eventually we came to the conclusion that you can get most of the zodiac gems in the great crystal and since mythril golems are there anyway we can hunt mythril and hope we find the gems by killing everything else we come across.

Of course we haven't even encountered a single golem in the last six hours and are now hopelessly lost. Giruvegan is inexplicably more complicated when you can't open a map on the computer next to your ps2.

* * *

The mist in this place is infuriating, the ambient magic is so thick that it acts like a fog, obscuring the roving monsters until we are almost atop them. As we enter another room I wonder privately if we are actually just roving in circles, the stupid frigging noise each footstep makes in this place is starting to get to me.

Oh joy, out of the mist as we walk onto the next platform emerge the forms of ... yet another dozen Ose! Hurrah! Or not.

This room it's the boys turn so we girls don't even get to kill a few. As one begins casting Hell blaster Irvine mulches it's head with a single round and Whisperer takes control of the splattered blood, forming a huge cyclone of whirring blood and wind blades, mulching the rest. Lastly Road's army of necrofiends comes screaming in to finish off the leftovers. He has an army of about two hundred now, it's kinda annoying the way they follow us and moan. Turns out that even though Jagd blocks a necromancer's ability to summon the undead our ability to control them is unaffected and Road has gone damn well nuts collecting the naturally occurring ones here in the great crystal. Frankly I wish he'd just order them to kill each other, at least three quarters need to be gotten rid of.

Yes as this expedition drags on I get more and more pissed at conditions inside the damn crystal. I finally can't hold back comment, "Damn it all to fishcakes! Do we even know where we are?"

"We should be in Sirhru Pis Avaa about now, the way stone up to the next level is only two platforms away."

As a group we all stop what we're doing and stare in shock at Whisperer and the sheet of paper suddenly in his hand, eventually Road speaks up, "You have a map?"

"Yeah..." like it's the most obvious thing in the world.

"WTF? Why didn't you tell us?" Road sounds extra angry now.

"What? It's not like I'm hiding it from you, all you had to do was ask ..."

* * *

So a few things happened on our little material hunt ... after twelve days in the damn crystal we found four mythril golems and found out that not only are they made of mythril like we hoped but they are also powered by aquarius gems. After that all we needed was corpse flies, don't even get me started on what it was like climbing around the Ridorana subterra for a week with those two buffoons, they even corrupted Irvine for a while there ... but eventually we got everything together and headed to Rabenastre. Road used his connections to clan centurio to have one of the clan's weapon smiths work on our two holy staves and right now we're just waiting around for them to be complete.

We've waited a further seven days for the weapons to be completed, our free time before the tournament starts is all but up and I'm seriously thinking of finding out the location, going on my own and looking for other team mates when I get there. These damn staves are taking waaay too long to make and frankly I'm getting jack of it.

I'm not really sure where Road and Whisperer are but frankly I don't care, Irvine and I are in a dark corner of the sand sea getting drunk and doing drunken things together behind the, probably not that good, cover of a potted plant. It's not like we're stripping down and the corner we're in is hidden by a pot plant and around the corner from the bar at large so right now I'm drunk enough not to mind the slim chance of being spotted. When roving hands start to go beyond just the first layer of clothing and quest toward the insides of underwear however I'm still sober enough to realise we had best seek a room before we get carried away and do something _really _embarrassing in public.

As we stumble to the exit, acting like any other pair of just over twenties on a Friday night, we attract a lot of odd looks. After all, stumbling about drunk and going back to your hotel for some action is one thing but the common people seem to draw the line at exorcists doing it. Tonight we look even more like exorcists, we still wear our usual white and we're both tall enough to tower over the bar like the holy scum have a reputation for, the unnatural beauty of Irvine's undead face could easily be mistaken for that of a human touched by the divine. Of course the clincher really is that, drunk and ROFLing though I may be, I do have the transparent form of an honest to god seraph following me around obediently. No one has to know that she follows because she is bound by dark magic rather than volunteering to serve me because of my tremendous piety.

* * *

When we finally stumble into the common room linking our group's three rented rooms Irvine has just told the sort of joke that, once sober, there would be no way for me to tell you what was funny about it and I'm laughing so hard he has to support me while opening the door. Once inside I'm not surprised to find Road and Whisperer sitting at the coffee table already.

"What no staves? Damn guys, if you haven't got them by this time tomorrow I'm gonna have to head to the tournament alone and wait for you."

Both Quistis and Lulu are staring at me with the sort of glare that kills small animals and their masters' eyes seem unusually glued to me too. A quick inspection reveals that some of the … fun from earlier in the night has shifted my clothing more than I thought and skin is showing. After a quick adjust both the guys are able to look directly at my face, I feel especially sorry for Quistis, she already has to deal with a master who tends to stray toward fresh meat every few minutes and then I had to add to it by coming in with a wardrobe malfunction…

After a moment we all get over what I consider a fairly minor incident and Road throws a large wad of gil my way, "What? What's this for?"

"It's your share of the profits," Whisperer looks incredibly unhappy about the situation.

"What profits?" I'm sure I already got a third from selling the random other crap we picked up while looking for the weapon materials.

"… from selling the two whale whiskers," Kel is almost growling with anger at this point.

_Selling the whale whiskers? Didn't we just wait practically _forever_ for them to be made?_ As the confusion settles into my drunken mind I take in more details of my compatriot's conditions. Road's right hand is even blacker than normal and, now that I look closely, appears to be burnt. Whisperer's whole left arm is covered in thick bandages. The information assembles in my mind and it's all I can do not to explode with laughter.

"So it turns out the rumours about necromancers not being able to use holy weapons are true after all," a tiny hiccough of laughter breaks free of my control and Quistis and Lulu both take a step toward me in rage.

Irvine steps in front of me and faces off with them, that doesn't bother me really, it's just servants being overprotective of their masters, when seven gathers enough energy to manifest her physical body the whole room pauses. Then I wave my 'burly protectors' away, everyone is taking this way too seriously for me.

"So how come you've got so much more bandage-ry Whisperer?" see? Convenient change of subject and we're out of 'kill you for insulting my master' territory.

"Hehehe, after I got burnt holding mine," Road is the one to respond, Whisperer is apparently too embarrassed, "smart ass here tried to contain the holy effects with blood magic. He got the holy energy in his blood and it burned hell out of the whole inside of his arm, he should be able to fight again in a day or two."

That is the last straw, I burst out laughing at the pair's misfortunes. Quistis looks angry but since I'm not laughing at Road anymore she doesn't have Lulu's support for an attempt to get past Irvine and Seven to claw my eyes out.

Eventually I stumble toward my private room's door, and call back to them before disappearing, "So we're heading off tomorrow? Where is the tourney anyway?"

"Some little town called Maldeera. We're gonna have to research a bit to even find out where it is, hope we have enough time left."

I can't tell whose voice is speaking to me but my mirth almost bubbles to the surface again, "Maldeera? Awesome I can get us there in about two hours, be ready to go at ten or so."

I don't wait to hear what they think of my statement I just slip back into my room and my frisky mood. Right now I'm still drunk enough that following up on that thought about Seven seems like a good idea …

**

* * *

DoE: yeargh! We have chapter get desu!**

**Among my friends we also use the term ROFLing to describe a fairly drunken condition. (I haven't been ROFLing drunk since new years eve)**

**I meant to say this last chapter but can anyone guess the naming pattern for my chapters? (it applies to future chapters and the two before this one) you might get it from the previous chapters, if you can figure it out based on this chapter then I will send you free hentai from my personal collection**


	22. Majesty

**Majesty**

_

* * *

Previously…_

"_So here's the deal. If you send me topside then I will send a Necromancer down for you."_

"_Why would I agree to that when I have an A class Necromancer right here."_

_As he finished saying that chains shot up out of the ground and wrapped themselves around me. They tightened to the point where I couldn't move and they began to pull me into the ground._

**

* * *

And now…**

The chains pulled me deeper and deeper into the ground. The more I struggled the tighter they got. I tried to use magic to get myself out but there was an anti-blood magic field around the whole palace. I had to find a way around it quickly otherwise I was screwed. I could hear Aeris screaming for me but I couldn't see her.

"_How is Shadow able to get around his anti-magic field?_" I thought to myself.

The chains continued to pull me in and within 10 seconds I was pulled completely under. I was in a small laboratory type room and the room was full of tables. Laying on all but one of the tables were Necromancers, they had their eyes open and were breathing but it looked like they were brain dead. "These are the Necromancer who like you challenged Shadow and paid the price. They are now mindless drones working for our lord." Somebody said from behind me.

I turned around and standing there was a woman, she was about 5'7, she had long platinum blond hair down to her waist, icy blue eyes and a load of scars on her face. You could tell that before she got all them scar she was very beautiful. She also wore a plain white lab coat covering her whole body.

"I didn't challenge him, I came seeking his help."

"You obviously don't know our lord. But I see why he bought you here, you are very strong, you must be since you are still conscious. Most people are unconscious when they arrive here."

"What, does becoming a vegetable come as standard as well?"

"No, they go into that state with a little help from me." She said with an evil grin.

She walked towards me and pulled out a syringe. I took a step back. "You may not be unconscious but you are still no match for me." She said.

She held out her free hand and her fingers grew in length and wrapped around me. She walked up to me. "This will not hurt." She said with her evil grin.

She was about to inject me with whatever was in the syringe. When the syringe hit my skin it shattered sending shards everywhere. My body began to glow with a bright white aura and the psycho doctor screamed out in pain. Her fingers began to burn and she released me. The light didn't go away in fact it went even brighter and her whole body began to burn away. With in seconds she was a pile of ashes on the floor. Once she had died the light disappeared and I turned around and looked at the other Necromancers. I pulled out my sword and killed them one after the other. It was the humane thing to do, what they were going through was worse then any death I could give them. Once they were dead I looked around and saw that there was no door. I put my hand out in front of me and a portal opened. I walked through and when I appeared on the other side I noticed I was standing next to Shadow's throne.

I went to walk forward when I realized that I was no longer wearing my usual clothes. I was wearing a chest plate with some chain mail under it. I had knee, elbow, and shoulder pads and was wearing combat boots. But the weirdest thing about it was the colour. It was black and white in a camo pattern. The camo pattern was on all of the armor.

I heard Aeris screaming out in pain. I looked towards her and saw Renoa standing over her. I couldn't see what Renoa was doing but it must be really hurting Aeris. I pulled out my guns and aimed at Renoa. The screaming stopped. "Hahahahaha, the girl passed out." She laughed turning around.

She saw me standing there but it was too late, before she could do anything I pulled the trigger filling her full of lead. She dropped to the floor and didn't move. I walked towards Shadow and stood only a few feet away from him. "How…did you…escape?" he said slowly thinking of the possible answer I could say.

"I walked out. Now, how do we do this? If I win then you send me back, if you win I become one of those mindless things. Deal?"

"Whatever."

We were just standing there looking at each other and he seemed to get more and more annoyed as the seconds went by. Shadows started to appear on the ground and skeletal warriors rose out of it. "Hahaha, you think a few skeletal soldiers can stop me?" I laughed.

He looked a bit confused and I slammed my sword into the ground sending a shockwave which destroyed all of the skeletons. "You killed them." he finally said.

"The necromancers, yes I did."

"I thought so."

"I get it now; you get your power from the Necromancers that you captured, and because of it you cannot summon anything over grade D. That is just sad, why put all your power into a few Necromancers?"

"You are mistaken about quite a few things but you are right about me getting power from them, but not enough to cause a set back. Since I was shot by an Exorcist I haven't been able to use blood magic and had to rely on Renoa for that and I tell the Necromancers to summon the undead, but I have a lot more power then that. I didn't become lord of the under-dead by just using blood magic. A Necromancer can become very powerful through mastering blood magic but they would be a fool to not study other forms of magic, you of all people know this. I have watched you the whole time you were on Ivalice just like I watch every Necromancer, and I have seen you learn other forms of magic. It is the reason you are alive today and why the Exorcists feared you more then anybody, excluding myself. Your skills with the rokushiki arts are very impressive, especially the kamie forms. I also know you are very skilled in the use of arcane magic but yet you use none of these extra skills. You have the potential to become a renowned warrior, one who will be remembered for generations to come, you would be a legendary fighter who thousands of Necromancers will look up to but you hide and cower away. You have to power to take down the Exorcists."

"One man can not take down a nation. Because that is what they are, they are not just an army; they have their own cities and shit. Plus they have God knows how many magical races fighting for them. Yes I am powerful but I am not a God."

"It is a shame you will not see it, a shame."

He phased out from where he was and appeared to my left, he swung a sword down but I had already disappeared from where I was and attacked him from above. I built up the energy in my hand and shot off half a dozen beams of energy which hit him dead on from all different angles. He jumped up and kicked me in the stomach. I went flying back and hit a wall. He appeared in front of me and stabbed his sword into my chest. "I really did expect a challenge from you." He said. "You are a fool."

He turned and walked away while leaving his sword in me. I slowly stood up and pulled the sword out. I let it drop to the floor and when it did he turned around. When he saw me a small smile crept onto his face. There was a bright light and the hole in my chest disappeared. A grey aura grew around me and I flew forward and slammed my fist into his chest. I kept punching and kicking him and it was slowly pushing him back towards the pit. When he was right at the edge of the pit I went for one final punch but he jumped up, did a flip and landed on the other side. My momentum was too much and I fell forward into the pit. I began to fall so I bent my legs below me and jumped up barely making it back up. "I see you know the geppou form of rokushiki. I am impressed." He said walking around the pit towards me.

"I don't know much of it, just enough to stop me from falling down a pit"

"It is still impressive; it is of Exorcist design so you shouldn't be able to do it."

He appeared in front of me about to strike but I was ready this time and I moved out of the way. He continued to attack but could not hit me. I just kept dancing around him. "This one as you know is called kamie, with it you will find me very hard to hit." I said with a grin. "You want me to release my full potential, bring it on."

He stepped back and sent a load of fire my way but I was unable to dodge it, it was an area attack and I found myself surrounded by fire. I created a layer of ice around me and walked through the fire. I felt a little heat from it but nothing major. As I stepped through onto the other side Shadow phased in front of me and slammed a huge ball of darkness into my chest. I went back a step with the force of the impact and laughed. "Pease, I am a Necromancer, darkness doesn't work on me."

White orbs appeared around my hands and with them I punched Shadow over a hundred times in only a few seconds before firing them at him. They both exploded at his feet creating an explosion of holy energy. "What? That was…an holy attack…only Exorcists…can do that." He panted.

"I thought you watched my every move when I was on Ivalice." I said with a grin. "That last fight with Baranna. No, ok I guess I can explain. When I killed him I used mine and Aeris' life force, when it hit him it mixed with his causing a breakdown of his life force and killing him. But, his life force had to go somewhere and it did, it mixed with mine and was sent to the underworld. So basically I have control of Baranna's soul, and with it I have all the power that he once had. I am no longer full of darkness, but I am not full of light. I am the grey area between them; I am strengthened by both and weakened by neither."

"And you said you weren't strong enough."

"Don't get me wrong, I am hard to kill but I am not invincible. Now enough talking, let's finish this."

A pair of angel wings grew out of my back and I flew towards him, he ran towards me and when we were about a meter apart I shot my wings forward causing a gust of wind to knock him back. I built up a ball of ice in each of my hands and clapped them together causing the balls to break apart and shoot icicles everywhere. At this time Shadow was getting up. The icicles flew towards him and hit him in both of his legs, his right arm and through his throat. "I guess I win." I said.

"No, this fight isn't over."

"How…how can you speak, hang on how can you breath? An icicle through the throat should be able to kill anybody."

"How can you kill someone who is already dead?"

He knelt down on one knee and created a dome of lighting around him. The dome increased in power and a gust of wind began to circle it, then I noticed that there were embers in it as well as ice crystals and water droplets. Chunks of rocks were pulled out of the walls and floor and were caught up in the wind. I was being pulled towards the dome by some gravitational force. As I closer I got the more the dome increased in power. I was barely a couple of meters away when the dome shot off and expanded. First I was caught by the wind and rocks and then I felt all the other elements pulse through my body. It only lasted a second but it was unimaginable pain. Once it was over I dropped to the ground with a loud crunch sound. I went to fly back up but realized me wings were not responding. I looked back and saw that they were broken. Both of them were hanging limp behind me, they wouldn't repair themselves or retract back into my body.

He pulled a massive rock from out of the wall and walked over to me. I was feeling so weak after that attack that I couldn't stand up. I watched as he walked over to me. He dropped the rock onto my legs causing them to break as well. He went over to Aeris and picked her up. I couldn't do anything, the only thing I could do was watch as he threw her into the pit. He came back over to me and pulled me out from under the rock. Because he didn't remove the rock first the skin and flesh on my legs were pulled away from my body and left under the rock. He hung me over the pit before speaking. "You are too powerful for me to control. It is a shame but I have no other choice." He said.

My hands started to phase out before reappearing. "I see somebody is summoning you." He said. "I guess we have to end this quickly."

With that said he let go of me and I fell down the pit. I pulled all of my power together for one last attack. Chains shot out of my body and wrapped themselves around Shadow. I took hold of the chains and yanked him down with me. Just before I hit the flames at the bottom I disappeared in a flash of white light and black smoke. Shadow wasn't so lucky.

**

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**

**A/N: sorry it was short but at the moment I am moving house and have very little time to write stories.**

**Kel's Guild of Authors**

**Author name: Mucnhinmonster**


	23. This is not

**This is not**

* * *

We arrived in Maldeera two days ago and once we got our names down as entrants for the tournament Road and Whisperer wandered off for some alone time, as far as I can tell none of us has seen the others anywhere outside our hotel since our entry to the tournament was confirmed. Not that I mind, there is more to see in Maldeera right now than I have seen in all the times I have visited and even occasionally lived in the city. I still have four days before the qualifying round of the tournament begins, why not enjoy myself?

It appears that our tournament isn't just for a chance to make a request of a God-class necromancer, it is also part of a huge competition held in Maldeera – arguably the world capitol of every variety of magic – every half a decade. Mages of every denomination came to pit themselves against one another and earn fame and prize money that amounts to quite a large sum. To everyone who wasn't practiced in dark enough arts to enter our tournament is just another mage type duking it out for glory.

Yesterday I spent almost the whole day watching a competition open to all types (even though pure mages had a huge advantage over red mages and competitors of mixed specialties) called the contest of wills. A pair of mages was placed in a room, enchanted to allow no mist to enter, with two bells. Without touching the bells and without the ability to use magic the competitor who was first to ring their bell by sheer willpower would advance to the next round. Somehow the tension of the two mages focussing their entire beings on these large brass bells was captivating and I couldn't leave that event for over an hour until it finished with a renowned Nu-mou white mage taking the ultimate victory from a Seeq black mage – who showed almost godlike talent when one considers his race's normal magical aptitudes – who took second.

When Irvine and I finally peeled ourselves away it was only minutes before we were ensnared in watching an elemental version of the same duel. This time contestants met on a raised platform, each containing a fixed amount of one element – a litre of water, a kilo of metal or earth, a metre cube of air or fire etc – the competitor who wrested enough control of that element to use it to force their opponent out of the ring won.

Mostly the competitors were black mages and Viera elementalists, particularly those who progressed past the first round. There were some very notable exceptions in some cases though – a Viera summoner and a Nu-Mou white mage wielded cracking and devastatingly powerful energies during the final of the light element event, the Bangaa bishop who had made it all the way to the final round of the water competition was knocked out by a Viera red mage who simply stopped the movement of the water they were meant to be contesting over and drove him over the edge of the ring with a shoulder tackle.

The darkness elemental event ... oh how I wish I could have arrived in time to participate. The final victor was a female Bangaa vampire who simply claimed the shadows strewn about the arena as her own and taunted her opponent for several minutes as they tried to break her incredible elemental control before bending the shadows into solidity and claiming her victory.

Of course that bothers me more than a little, the tournament we are about to enter is not limited to necromancers as I had originally believed. It seems that anyone whose soul is sufficiently tainted by dark magic may participate – even those as normal as particularly accomplished Arcane mages may enter, of course necromancy is a dark enough art but so are several forms of wizardry and quite definitely the full school of vampiric disciplines.

The thought of meeting one with such fine control over shadow in the coming event bothers me a little – after all vampires are almost always more powerful than necromancers, it is only their natural undead susceptibility to necromancy that gives us an edge in direct confrontations.

* * *

Just after lunch I find myself in the main square with hundreds of other spectators as a few event staff cast a huge illusion over the top of one of the public buildings. The illusions are something like a public service during this month of magical contests, acting like a huge TV screen so that those not able to get into the actual arenas could still get a close up of certain highlights.

I prefer to watch this at the end of the day when they playback all the surprise upset victories and any particularly awe inspiring displays, during the day the major illusions project a live feed of an event that probably will be interesting but isn't really guaranteed since it _is_ live after all.

Right now it's showing quite an interesting scene though and a great many pedestrians have stopped to watch. The event is the free combat competition, usually the event with the most fatalities (at least in previous years when there hasn't been a tournament full of undead and masters of truly dark arts) and also the one where mages of multiple elements and specialities are most likely to achieve victory.

A Seeq red mage and a Hume blue mage face off across a length of open floor. This event catches my attention – not really for the Seeq, he seems to be like most adventurers who make it to Maldeera for the games. That is to say – a member of the 'I can cast a bunch of magic and I'm pretty good with weapons, that means I'm a red mage right?' group. The truth that these types exist at all is a sad fact of life, they obscure the fact that a truly elite red mage is equally worthy to a place in the mage capitol of the world to any other elite mage.

Rather than the Seeq giving red magic a bad name I am interested in the Hume. Due to the oddities of the nature of blue mages – such as being a magic type only Humes can learn, having to learn all their magic from monsters, the unusually indirect way in which blue magic works and the fact that any decent mage is also a skilled fighter – this is one of the only events in the whole month that blue mages can take part in and compete against other magic types. Add that to the fact that most blue mages see blue magic only events more as a right of passage for apprentices (competitions to learn the most potent spells in a given time etc) and it becomes clear that the only way to see a truly powerful blue mage in action without making him angry enough to kick your arse is to see them here.

Unfortunately the Seeq isn't pushing the Hume hard enough to force him to show anything he might want to keep hidden for later rounds. In actual fact, apart from a decently powerful mighty guard near the beginning, the Blue mage is stepping in and out and picking the red to pieces with dozens of short slashes of his sabre, the Seeq in turn is wielding a spear and not quick enough to do more than glance off the physical barrier and casting the occasional ineffectual spell that does little more than fall apart once it strikes the powerful magical barrier.

In the end the whole fight is over with a sudden thrust that apparently comes from two sides at once. Clearly the blue mage has some hidden blue magic that causes the quicken status up his sleeve. I'm actually disappointed in both of them, the Seeq obviously for his poor performance but also the Hume for giving away one of his spells when he would have beaten his opponent easily. Especially since not knowing what a blue mage may be able to pull out of his bag of tricks is half the difficulty in fighting them. Clearly, even though he seems to possess the spells and power of a master blue mage, this Hume is inexperienced in true combat. Perhaps if I continue to watch one of the other contestants will show him this, maybe I will get to see a proper red mage do the honours later on.

* * *

On the third day of our wait I have a plan, the day before I saw a public square where free speech was being taken to extremes – any member of the public who could find an open space to stand and deliver whatever message they wished. There were more than a few political messages and dozens of people trying to rally the crowds into supporting one contestant or another in a coming event. There was only one die hard preaching his religion, a handful of mildly interested bystanders listened to his rant about the Occuria but no one seemed to be taking any of his rantings in.

But that gave me an idea and so all night I stayed up, first using spirit magic to move thoughts from my head onto paper (since it's about a million times faster than writing) and then blood magic to take whole passages from that original and inscribe them in book form in the order I desired, of course I edited out any stray thoughts that found their way out of my head and on to the paper by accident. Lastly I used a stack of blank books enchanted to magically copy other books to duplicate my work a few hundred times. Then I was all set to spread the word. Haha, this will be so much fun.

At first I just stand in my chosen area, gathering my thoughts before I leap into some heavy duty public speaking. Even just standing here I attract a lot of looks, my height (and Irvine's) coupled with our bright white trenchcoats already make us something of an awesome sight for most passersby, especially in a town completely dominated by Nu Mou. Then I reached out and snared the closest passerby, a Hume in line for a stand selling fried food on sticks.

"Greetings sir! Have you heard of the lifestream?"

"Err ... I'm already in line for something else ..."

I nearly begin to laugh hysterically at his bewildered expression, this will be so easy, "Oh no, good sir! I am not some purveyor of meats and suspect food products!" I can barely contain myself when the operator of the stall next to us starts to object to my calling his wares suspect. I cut him off too, "We are Jenova's witnesses, travelling these lands and spreading the word of Sephiroth. Will you be ready for reunion?"

"Reunion?" oh yes, he definitely has that stunned mullet look now.

"Oh yes good sir! Reunion! The day when the non-believers shall be smoten with the great joining of our mother," for effect I hunch forward a little and twitch slightly in what I hope looks like religious ecstasy. Beside me Irvine looks every inch the rapt convert, even Seven (under direct orders to do so) is hiding her soulless expression behind a mask of religious joy.

"So if I join, I'll be saved?" the man's voice has the sort of tone that tells me he is losing interest. After all, there really are hundreds of overnight religions out there promising salvation from some unnamed evil.

Time to spring the next part of my plan, "Oh no, you'll still die," my voice goes quiet and distant before returning with the sell line, "but _faster._"

The man was stunned for several seconds at that, a religion that promises believers will die? I let his mind flail at the end of it's chain a moment longer and as I sense he is about to regain his mental balance I strike again with the ferocity of a hurricane, "Come sir! Read with me! We shall read aloud from the book of the one winged angel that those about us may know how this all came to pass! We shall read the book of making and of the three children of Jenova and men. Come brethren!"

The spell to make a servant speak exactly in time with their master is simple and to have Seven do the same I simply order her to match me. The three of us raise our voices over the crowd and with a little carefully applied magic I'm fairly sure we can be heard most of the way across the square even over the other bustle. By now my scene with that poor bystander stolen from his lunch line has attracted enough attention that I have a proper audience. And the affect of our three combined voices is really quite impressive.

"The first child of the great mother and mankind was named Vincent. He was a man first of all, his priorities were mistaken because of his time spent as a flawed Hume before he became whole. When the man called Vincent came to the peak of his human powers he was one of a group called the TURKs, who were once of us but now are apart from the true way.

"When Vincent came to be recognised as the most potent of these TURKs in his generation, a time when the TURKs still walked the path Jenova willed unto them, came he upon a doctor Lucretia who did alter him and make him more than a man. Then later when came the great professor Ghast into the fold he did see that Vincent far outstripped his fellow men and selected him to bear mother's blessings!

"But Lucretia had hidden the truth. She told not the great professor that she had already altered Vincent's body using a being called Chaos. When the time came and Vincent was begotten with mother's empowering blessings the dark chaos rebelled! So the first son of mother and men fell to the side of the false and the betrayers and was sealed away until the coming of meteor!

"But made wise professor Ghast a leap of intuition that would only be proven as the true course when later attempts to surpass his way lead to failure. Wise professor Ghast made the conclusion that it was Vincent's state as a full grown man at the time he received his blessing and he did grant mother's divine blessing on a child not born. So from this came the greatest of mother's champions, Sephiroth! Some say that his immortal soul still wanders the earth and lends it's power to necromancy as a servant when the balance of mother's planet swings too far the wrong way."

* * *

After an hour of preaching my new 'religion' we got tired, wrapped up our sermons and left. But not before selling every last copied version of my 'Book of the one winged angel' and making a tidy eighteen thousand gil profit. Once we had finished the fairly serious business of counting it all up we three retired to our hotel room to laugh our asses off. Well Irvine and I laughed our asses off, Seven just reverted back to her normal passive state. After some other fairly non-religious activities we headed out for a few drinks at a bar on the far side of town.

After my third vodka I suddenly found a blade at my throat. Both Irvine and I were suddenly disgustingly sober and on edge. Out of the corner of my eye I take in the details of the sword's holder and my heart drops. All in black, rounded white shoulder guards, sword longer than even I am tall and silver hair to his knees. Not to mention a healthy green Mako glow to the eyes.

"Err, Sephiroth ... hi! I er ... I see that my guess about you being an immortal servant turned out to be true."

"So it amuses you to mock my mother's name for your petty money making schemes does it?" he looks really angry, but neither of my servants have moved so he isn't ready to off me just yet. So I will stupidly push him until he is.

"... yeah, I laughed waaay too hard for my own good today."

Seph's eyes narrow in rage and the muscles of his sword arm tense. But Seven is faster, apparently she hasn't just been standing by, rather she has entered he non visible state to stand as close to the hugely long blade as possible and in the instant he motioned to attack dispelled the blood magic forming the sword with a dagger of holy power.

As the sword becomes liquid and splashes to the ground Irvine somehow moves from the far side of the table to between me and Seph.

"Irvine, I should have known you would have something to do with this." Seph's voice is filled with hate.

"You know him love?"

"Yeah, until I met you I'd had a huge string of horrible masters which I chose to erase my connections to once they died so that I could seek a new master. Master silver-locks here was having a similar run ... and may be still on it for all I know. We met a lot of times with a lot of different masters, somehow our masters always wound up being enemies too ... Naturally we've developed a bit of a history together. Or perhaps against one another." Irvine's face is full of grin, Sephiroth must be weakened by his servant status or something because I'm sure that no one would laugh in the face of the on winged angel at his fullest power.

"Sephy! There you are!" the cries come from a short girl of perhaps Chinese descent, she comes running toward us and waves, "Why did you run off on me like that? These your friends?"

I'm taken aback, this teenager seems to have one of those mouths that never stops. Irvine's grin just grows wider, "I see you got a bit of an unusual master this time too 'Sephy'. Maybe you'll finally find one you can love enough to end this cycle of eternal servitude too."

The girl's face seems to literally fill up with redness as a blush flows across her and she apparently nears the point of fainting. Sephiroth gives Irvine a look of such cold hatred it could freeze blood.

"Come mistress," the tall man (equal to my own height) simply turns and begins to walk away, "The woman appears to be the darkness in light, she is registered for the tournament and we would be disqualified for fighting her here."

"Hey wait!" the girl runs after her servant a short way before turning back to face us, "I'm called Fate! Nice meeting you, hope we can get together some time!"

She caught up just before Sephiroth left our field of vision, after a short but heated argument that we are too far away to hear the mighty warrior gives in to his master's orders and kneels. In response she climbs onto his back and hugs his head to her chest. Then he begins to walk once more.

I nearly laugh out loud, Sephiroth – THE Sephiroth – is a servant to a necromancer on Ivalice. The mighty son of Jenova beholden to the whims of a girl so short the top of her head would probably be closer to the ground than my nipples. And she treats him like some favourite pet. But damn me if it didn't look like he secretly enjoyed it.

* * *

That night we rested, all three necromancers met in our hotel room and we discussed what we had all heard today. The rules have changed – something about too many applicants – and no longer will we be building teams of five. Rather the competition will be in pairs from now on, Road and Whisperer are discussing what to do about it but I already know – they will go together and I will head out after the qualifying round and look for whoever isn't paired up.

That was the other thing – the thing that was really supposed to cut down on entrants was the qualifying round. The competitors would be split up into sixteen roughly equal groups at about nine tomorrow and from each of those groups the last two standing after a battle royale would be allowed to enter. Apparently this method meant that there wouldn't be enough in the actual tournament ladder for teams of five (hence the pairs) but at least we wont be restricted to fighting alongside the other survivor from our preliminary round.

Once everyone qualifies we will be given an hour to assess our fellows and make deals to form the partnerships. We can change alliances as many times as we want until our first match, once we fight with someone at our side they stay with us for the rest of the tournament.

Frankly I secretly hope one of Road or Whisperer gets knocked out so I can team up with the other and have the advantage of working with someone I know. Else some of the vampire entrants look formidable is they can be convinced to work with me ... there is also the possibility of Sephiroth and his master. What was her name? Luck or destiny or something?

Oh well, Irvine's face in my hair and his lips on my neck tell me that it's time to put those thoughts aside and sleep on it.

... yeah sleep.

**

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Here you go! i was going to leap into the prelims this round (yes gale i am stealing from negima so shh) but i had this tremendous idea ...**

**also i discaim! to everything in this fic except those characters clearly stated to be OC's belong to none of the writers of this fic**

**this chapter by guildmember DoE**

**Next we have some huge effort from Icarax to add depth to his character ... actually at least half of those chapters will probably be posted before this one ... **


	24. The occuria

**Got the life**

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**

I woke up to find myself standing on a lone cloud surrounded by a clear sky, it was night time and the sky was filled with stars. I looked up at the stars looking for a few constellations that I might now. Once I was bored of that I walked to the end of my cloud and looked down. I saw a lot of lights down below me and I knew I was floating above a city. I tried to make out which city and realised that it was Rabanastre. I grew a pair of blood wings and went to step over the edge. An energy shield appeared around the cloud in a dome like shape. I tried to push past the shield but it wouldn't budge. I gave up and the shield disappeared. I flew upwards towards the sky but once I got to a certain height the shield appeared again blocking my way. I dropped back down onto the cloud and tried to open a portal but it didn't work. I tried to teleport to the other side of the shield but that didn't work either. A distortion appeared in the air and four figures appeared. They had no arms or legs and their body was covered in some sort of armour. They had glowing eyes and when they spoke it sounded like it they were speaking far away. "We are the Occuria; we watch over Ivalice and guide it through the ages." One of them said as they floated in front of me.

I couldn't tell which one was speaking but it sounded like s/he was speaking for all of them. "Well I have many names, but people call me Reaper." I said.

"We know who you are General that is why we bought you here. There are not a lot of people who can do what we are asking of you."

"As you know the Necromancers are scattered and are even fighting each other while the Exorcists are organized and hunting you all down."

"Yeah, what's new? It has been like that for nearly four years."

"Well for the first time since the war the Necromancers are gathering together in one place. The Exorcists know about this and plan to attack them."

"Where are they gathering?"

"Maldeera."

"There is no way they will be able to make it to Maldeera and still have the strength to fight us. Also it is a Nu Mou village and if they attack then they will also have to deal with them. The Necromancers will be safe there."

"Normally you would be right but the Exorcists have hired out the dragons to help them."  
"I am one person, what do you expect me to do?"

"You are not just one person, the Exorcists fear you over anybody else, just your presence there could change the result of their attack. You have met a lot of Necromancers during your travels and almost all of them have heard about your exploits during the war, you are the only person who can rally them together to stop this attack."

"Fine, if it'll mean I'll be back on Ivalice."

"Good, we will keep track of you and if you need us we will be there."

"How will you know if I need you? Also, Aeris isn't here, can you bring her back?"

"We will know, and no we can't but you can once you are back on Ivalice."

**

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**

I woke up to find that I was on my back looking up at the stars in the sky with a soft flow of water underneath my legs. I shoot up and looked around. I was on the Phon coast with my feet in the water like I had just washed up onto the beach. The water was calm and the sky was clear, it was peaceful. "So you are finally awake." Somebody said from behind me.

I looked 'round and there was a guy standing there. He was average height. He had brown messy hair and really pale skin; he wore a little eye shadow and had grey eyes. He was wearing a pair of dark grey jeans and a black t-shirt. He looked like a dead emo. Stepping out from behind him was a woman. I took a closer look and realised it was Paine from final fantasy X-2. She looked exactly like she did in the game. "Hi." I said. "Who are you?"

"My name is Mythos and this is my servant Paine."

"Ok, my name is Reaper."

"That's a weird name." Paine said.

"And Paine isn't, I mean what the fuck, didn't your parents like you or something? Don't get me wrong, I like Paine but…" I said before she interrupted me.

"Well that's good because if you don't shut up that is exactly what you will get."

"Uncalled for. I'm guessing you are a Necromancer." I said towards Mythos.

"A what…?" he said before I interrupted him.

"No need to hide it, I'm one too."

"Where is your servant?"

"I'm guessing she's still in the underworld."

"Err, why?"

"Long story, I see we are on the Phon coast, can you point me in the direction of the hunter's camp?"

"Yeah sure, but if you are a Necromancer why are you going to the hunter's camp? I thought all Necromancer were going to the tournament in Maldeera."

"Tournament, I heard there was a gathering but not a tournament."

"It is the King of the Dead tournament, it is being held by two A class Necromancers."

"Then yes I am going to the tournament, and the quickest way there is by taking the gate crystal from the hunter's camp. Which way is it?"

"Can I come with you? I planned to walk across the desert to get to Maldeera, since it is the only way if it's your first time going there, but your way would save me several days journey."

"Sure. Now the hunter's camp."

We walked towards the hunter's camp in silence. I decided to let this Mythos guy come along with me for just one reason only, I remember my first time there and that desert is a bastard if you are not with Darkness. Damn how I miss her. She was so useful to have around, if she was here then I would already be in Maldeera, but she isn't so I will have to cope without her.

While we were walking towards the hunter's camp I thought about what I was going to do once I got there. I could let everybody know that the Exorcists are coming and sort out a defence, I could look for Soul, Switchblade, and Darkness and let them know, or I could sit back and wait for it to happen. If I let word get out about the Exorcists attacking then there may be a wide spread panic, if I let people know that I am going to show up then word might get out to the Exorcists. In the end I decided to go in with a different name and just let Soul and Switchblade know about the attack.

"Mythos." I said turning to him as we approached the entrance to the hunter's camp.

"Yes."

"When we get to Maldeera I will be using a different name."

"Why?"

"Because I don't want people to know that I am there. I will use the name Colonel Sanders."

"So be it."

"Right, meet me by the gate crystal in 30 minutes otherwise I'll leave you behind." I said walking off.

It wasn't enough to just change my name, I needed to change my appearance as well, people might still be able to recognise me by my face. I have completely changed everything so nobody can tell that it's me. Usually if I have a companion they are of the fairer sex, so I chose to travel with Mythos. I never go anywhere without Aeris, so I decided to wait until after the Exorcist attack to bring her back. My weapon of choice is a spear and duel pistols, so I have decided to go with duel daggers and a bow. I have also decided to buy a full body robe with a hood so that I can hide what I look like. Inside the hood I have created a black mist which hides my features but does not impair my vision. I was taking no chances, this was too important to fuck up.

Once the half hour was over I had purchased all of my new weapons and clothes and was ready to teleport to Maldeera. As soon as I reached the crystal I saw Mythos and Paine walking up towards it. Once they reached me I teleported us to Maldeera.

As soon as I appeared I looked around in amazement. It looked like there was this major event going on and not just the Necromancer tournament. "Hey dude, we should register before doing anything else." Mythos said.

"True, but where?"

"I don't know we just got here, look around."

I just glared at him before walking on. There seemed to be tournaments and competitions for all sorts of things going on around me. It looked like anybody and everybody who is magical is here competing in something. There was this weird tournament going on near the gate crystal, basically you tried to set somebody's arm alight and then heal it before the other person. But what got me was people were actually volunteering to have their arms burnt, I mean that's gotta be talking fetish to a whole new level.

I walked on and within 10 minutes found the place to sign up for the tournament. It appears the king of the dead tournament is the highlight of the whole event. After about half an hour queuing I finally got up the line and managed to put my name down. It appeared that since so many people have applied to fight in the tournament that there will be a bunch of preliminary rounds.

Once I had signed up I decided that it would be a good idea to find a hotel to stay in. After the first five hotels said they were fully booked I realised that it wasn't going to be an easy job. It was nightfall by the time I had found somewhere and it was right on the edge of town. It was a small motel like place which was so Spartan I felt lucky that it had windows, and even with it being a good 30 minute walk to the stadium and being so run down the owners still had the cheek to charge me 500 gil an night.

I decided that the best course of action would be to go to a tavern and have a drink. I walked back to the stadium and went to a posh looking tavern right next door to it. When I walked in I noticed that a few of my friends were in there. Darkness and Irvine were sitting at a table with two guys and two girls, up in a corner were Soul and Switchblade, and sitting at the bar was Mythos and Paine. I walked up to the bar and ordered a scotch on the rocks and dragged Mythos and Paine to the table next to Darkness. Mythos and Paine were talking but it was Darkness' conersation that grabbed my attention.

"So Darkness, we've told you what we want from the A class Necros but what do you want?" The guy with the dreads said.

"Well a friend of mine has recently died and I want them to bring him back."

"A boyfriend?" the other guy asked.

"Oh no no no, just a friend I travelled with."

I turned to Mythos. "Hey dude I heard that Reaper was going to show up at this tournament."

He looked at me like I've gone crazy but once he saw Darkness look over he caught on. "Yeah, I heard he came here looking for some old war buddies, and that he might even be fighting in the tournament. I hope I get to fight him, I mean he survived the war, it'll be great to fight somebody with that much experience." I said excitedly.

I noticed Darkness was paying full attention to my conversation and decided to end it there. "Well mate, I'll be back in a minute, I just wanna have a word with a couple of friends of mine."

I stood up and walked over to Soul and Switchblade. I sat down at their table and before they could protect I spoke. "Long time team." I said.

"Can we help you?" Soul said.

"It's me Reaper." I said removing the mist coving my face. "Shut up and listen."

"Yes sir general." Switchblade said.

"Have you come in disguise?" I asked both of them.

"Yeah, I'm Teal'c and Switchblade is Ronon." Soul said.

"Good." I said before explaining the Exorcist threat.

**

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**A/N – well there we are, the next chapter will be the tournament. Who knows where I got the name Teal'c and Ronon from? I'm just wondering.**

**Kels guild of authors**

**Author – munchin – I would like to dedicate this chapter to Kel since after that last stunt he made a lot of enemies and I don't think he will live very long now.**


	25. To myself I turned

**To myself I turned**

* * *

Well here we are. I stand to one side of the middle of the ring for my preliminary round, surrounding me are already dozens of competitors hoping for a place in the main part of the tournament. It took me a long time to get here, since half a dozen tests were required to prove that both Irvine and Seven are only servants and not free willed allies. Once it was undeniably proven that Irvine was my servant (and thus allowed entry under the rules governing necromancers) and Seven was no more free willed than a sword (and thus allowed in due to her classification as a weapon) we headed in. Immediately after us came a necromancer with two women following him, unfortunately his second female was a free willed human and technically classed as an ally, thus not able to enter the ring with him.

I nearly broke down laughing at the sheer unfairness of it all when I heard about the prelim match's format. Since so very many entrants came the masters organising the tournament decided to make it as absolutely challenging as they could for all involved – my particular prelim is being held in the Jagd immediately outside the town (so that only the strongest necromancers have a hope of winning without their conjurations and with their servants weakened and so that wizards are crippled by the difficult environment for spell casting) at high noon (so that only the very strongest vampires can hope to win entry to the main round). Needless to say the event is very unfairly balanced in my favour, that is rather why I chose to fight in this particular prelim.

With my advantages stacked I let Irvine and Seven cover me while I observe the surrounding competitors, confident that I will make it and that selecting the other contestant to pass this round should be my most important task here. Since only two from each prelim may enter the main rounds I chose to enter one separate to the one Whisperer and Road are fighting in out of respect to our previous tenuous alliance. Of course no announcement has been made saying whether or not our partners for the main tournament will be decided by our prelims, if I get paired up with whoever else makes it through here it would help me to make sure the survivor is the best match with me (and that a helpfully strong fighter isn't simply eliminated by being overwhelmed in the free for all) but if we are later permitted to pair up of our own accord with anyone else who passed it might be better for me to make sure a weaker competitor makes it.

As I ponder and make initial estimations of the power of those around me the last competitor enters the ring, the necromancer who was denied the use of his human servant has decided to forgo his immortal slave as well, apparently concluding that she will be more a weakness than an assistance in Jagd, more than a few necromancers are of the same opinion.

With the last entrant in the ring now the referee announces the beginning of the match, almost everyone tenses. A few spring right away, they are quickly distracted fighting each other, many more go tense as they wait for some threat to face them or for an opening to be shown by one of the ones already engaged.

My own attention is locked to the last one to enter the arena – he wears the flowing robes of a native, in necromancer black of course, although he is clearly uncomfortable in them. Apparently there is at least one entrant intelligent to realise that they need new clothes to suit the environment. But it is not that which draws my eye to him, he is gathering energy, a lot of energy, but not really for any detectable purpose. It's almost as if he's psyching himself up for something.

Then, when he has apparently hardened his resolve, he begins to draw his weapon. As I watch more than a few hopefuls strike at me but I trust Irvine and Seven to handle them for me, which they do with admirable efficiency. The attacks stop once he draws his blade anyway – the sword is long, straight and double edged, with a compact hilt and guard, a Jian in the Chinese style. The naked blade gives off such an overpowering aura of evil that it doesn't seem to come from the blade at all, rather, like an incredibly loud noise the glaring evil seems to come from all sides. Then something unusual happens – almost everyone in the ring seems to lose sight of him. Perhaps it is the massive evil cloaking him or maybe it is some simple illusion, either way it seems that most of the people here can't feel his true presence amidst the aura of his sword and _some_ magic obscures his actual form.

Even I can only just track his presence through the crowd as he stalks. First one way and then the other he moves silently, testing those about him to discern who can detect his faint traces. Everyone has gone still, apparently even the most foolish realise the threat represented by this unnamed necromancer.

"Oh? Contestant Icarax uses a huge aura to mask his own and make his hiding technique even more impenetrable! Things have suddenly become a game of high stakes cat and mouse over in ring eight!"

... Well, it seems that the commentary team is determined to fix the 'unnamed' part of that at least. As I observe him moving among the tensed masses of contestants he notices one participant breaking under the pressure and glancing about in a frenzy of panic as he tries to be ready for attacks from all sides. As it turns out he isn't even ready for attacks from the front and goes down bleeding from a neat but still quite bloody neck wound.

With that strike Icarax is visible for an instant and many more combatants become aware of him, with his location fixed in their minds and trying to track his movements at the same time the return to eliminating each other. The fighting is much slower as everyone tries to kill off enemies who are too busy trying to keep track of the invisible stalking death among us while not being taken out themselves. With a stroke at neck height Icarax becomes visible once more, this time his opponent manages to raise his own weapon into guard position but the throat slice simply flows in a reversed arc and opens the inside of the left thigh instead, the wizard goes down screaming and if anything bleeds out even faster than the one with the cut throat.

Two kills without being touched, both with a single tidy wound to a guaranteed killing point. This one is definite team mate material. But my attention is needed elsewhere, someone is channelling magic for a huge spell. Truly huge – the sort of thing that could kill everyone in the designated combat area, normally everyone would notice and eliminate anyone stupid enough to cast a spell that would eliminate every other competitor in one go. A spell like that should make the caster clearly detectable to anyone with even novice level magic senses, take way too long to cast and make the caster the common enemy of everyone in the ring.

Unfortunately this one is masked by Icarax's all overpowering aura to the point that not only is the caster not easily locatable but the spell itself is going unnoticed by many of the fighters.

"Irvine kill anyone who tries to get us while we're distracted with this Icarax guy, Seven track him and alert me if he gets close to us or looks like heading in our direction," I turn all my focus to finding the spell caster.

Long minutes pass as I try to locate the source of the elusive spell, Icarax interrupts my search a few times by wandering close enough to put me on alert but both times he strikes down a nearby combatant before wandering to another part of the ring where targets are less on edge. As I grow frustrated with the search I also begin to plan out what I should do if the spell goes off before I can locate its source. I cannot simply evade a spell this large, leaving the designated area equals disqualification, but the type of barrier I need to use depends on the nature of the spell used. Then a shout goes up.

"To me spirits of air and darkness! I would fly!" the shout comes from my immediate left and a male Nu Mou wizard sprouts huge wings of solid darkness and takes to the sky, "Feel that hunger of the most ravening of beasts!"

The compare doesn't help either, "He's got it cast! Competitor Valchneya has managed to pull off the spell 'Ravening blaze'! it looks like arena eight might see only one survivor today folks!"

"RAVENING BLA-"

"_SEVEN!"_ Shifting in response to my desire the seraph changes form – a long barrelled rifle, easily twice my height, materialises in my hand. I know this weapon, this is the one piece of gear that let the seraphic assassin shoot from a dozen times even a-class sensory range, the legendary 'firer of the magic bullet' Freischutz. I squeeze the trigger and with almost no recoil a spent cartridge the length of my arm is discharged. In the distance far above me my bullet takes Valchneya through the throat, separating his head from his now plummeting corpse.

"It's all ov... WOW! There you have it folks! At long last the darkness in light makes her move! Famous for the slaying of exorcists including the divine legion, the amalaric sniper and the seraphic assassin," oh shit, now they're crediting me with taking Reaper's kill over public announcements, way to get me in even worse trouble with HOLY MOTHER announcer man, "this giant of a woman has dealt with what seemed to be impending doom in a heartbeat!"

_Mistress!_ Seven's mental shriek is panicked and filled with alarm, if I had more time to think the fact that she is expressing emotion might bother me but I don't. Her rifle form collapses and wraps about me, forming the powerful dark armour in the form of a nun's robes once more. Suitably armoured I only barely manage to raise my left arm in time to stop the blow.

Somehow the blade striking my arm has such dark power that it overcomes the darkness absorbing properties of Seven's armour form enough to sink part of the way into my arm. There is only one weapon I've ever seen with such strong dark energy and meeting the eyes of its wielder only confirms my suspicion – my new attacker is Icarax. Around us roughly five surviving participants are frozen in shock, first at the huge fire attack that nearly wiped them out, then at my stopping it and lastly by the terror that ripples through them when the two strongest in the arena clash. As if by some secret agreement all five move away from each other, as if they hope to watch us weaken each other so that they have a better chance to be in the coming rounds.

"You are already famous. Killing off one so well known as you will get me much closer to my goal."

With one last mighty push Icarax takes my hand off just below the wrist, he rests a moment to recover from the effort and starts to bring his blade back across my throat. Irvine is faster and finally manages to move so the he is on a workable angle. There is the blinding white flash of pulse ammo being used and a huge impact shifts the long bladed Jian off target. Now it's my turn to strike.

I care not about the loss of my left hand, although it is covered by my gloves and long sleeves it is still the mass of shaped blood that is occupying that place ever since I sacrificed it to kill the seraphic assassin. Grasping control of the blood-hand that is flying through the air I turn it into a bundle of long needles and as Icarax struggles not to lose his grip on his weapon I pierce him with them, each needle slams through a joint severing ligaments where they attach to his bones. Each of the joints struck go limp and I follow up with a wave of pointed tendrils that enter and leave his body without hitting anything major but deep enough to hold him in place off the ground.

I lean down to whisper into his ear, "Right now the other five think I'm about to kill you. They've probably all realised that you haven't weakened me enough for them to kill me so they are going to resort to plan B: kill each other in hopes of being the one who passes to the next round with me. But I don't like that plan," Icarax's eyes narrow in suspicion, "the main event will be in pairs and no one has told us if that means we're stuck with the person who passed the same qualifying round as us or if we are free to partner up as we please with whoever passes. Frankly, just in case we are stuck with the person from our own prelim, I'd rather it not be one of those cowards. I'm going to release you and you are going to kill them. Questions?"

"No," Icarax whispers his answer, then he bites his tongue to fill his mouth with blood and coughs, making it look like I'm taking my time with torture. The remaining watchers are horrified and I can't help but grin ferally at the little show we're putting on.

"Good, in return if we wind up partnered with separate people I will fight you with all that I have and the battle will be something to remember, if you win you will certainly gain the fame you seem to desire. That's about all I can offer you. Of course it's either take my offer or die so you don't have much choice. You are exceptionally powerful but no-one can defeat me in Jagd. No-one."

I retract my blood without waiting for him to agree with me and before I have finished returning it to the shape of my left hand five heads are in the air.

* * *

After my match my mind returns to what I heard last night, the rumour that Reaper would be entering. Of course it can't be true, it has to be just because he is so famous in our world and word hasn't gotten out that he's dead. I shake my head and dismiss the thought, I head to the viewing lounge, where preliminary matches are shown in huge flowing illusions at the centre of the floor. It would be silly for me to miss a chance to observe the other prelims to get some idea of the abilities of those I may have to fight in future.

**

* * *

DoE here - taste my lemony wrath! Prelims started omg! the tournament proper will start soon coming soon i will post the line up, let you know who is licking whose nostrils ... damn, i'll just stop there. some days i freak myself out.**

**Munchin's prelim coming soon, then the announcement of the lineup and then ... fighting!!! wrargh! **

**Guildmember DoE - out **


	26. Bodies

**Bodies**

* * *

I had just chosen the preliminary round I would like to take part in, I decided to go for the cave fight. Basically the fight is in a cave directly under Maldeera. It is still within Maldeera's shield so my powers won't be affected but it far enough away that I would be able to use some of my stronger attacks without worrying about collateral damage. I wanted to take part in the Jagd fight but I saw Darkness had already entered it and I didn't want to be fighting her so early in the tournament, plus that guy Icarax, there is just something not right about him. You just have to look into his eyes and you know to just stay out of his way. He got the look like he hasn't got a care in the world and if you fuck with him then you won't live to regret it. I mean seriously that dude just scared me so I decided to go with the cave fight. It was due to start once the Jagd fight was finished.

I looked down at the list of people who have also registered for the cave fight and there were quite a few people listed to fight. There were 13 people including me. I looked at some of the people on the list and just laughed. Since it was the only fight that was in an enclosed space there were quite a few vampires on the list, in fact half of the list were vampires. I knew they wouldn't pose any threat to me since all of the strongest vampires decided to fight in the sun (Vampires are burnt by the sun but not killed, the really powerful ones only feel a little pain and are not burnt). The only problem I saw with the vampires is that they can walk on the ceiling and walls. There was also a witch, a Nu Mou on the list and the rest were Necromancers. I noticed that a lot of them were C class but there was one other A class Necromancer there, her name is Mille, she didn't look or sound very tough but well she is an A class Necromancer for a reason, so I decided that once the fight began I would keep my distance from her and only fight her if she attacked me.

I slowly walked towards the entrance of the cave and went inside. I walk through all the narrow paths and found the way to the middle. The core of the cave is one massive room, it has loads pillars keeping the roof up and floor was uneven but you wouldn't be able to tell until you walked on it since there was a thick mist coming about 5 inches above the floor. I sat down and started meditating.

It has been four hours since I started meditating and I was having a sort of out of body experience. I do it often when I am bored, just follow people around, and spook the local kids. This time I decided to follow that girl mille around. I wanted to know if there was anything I could use against her, a weakness, knowing what attacks she uses, but she didn't speak to anyone, didn't train, in fact she just sat there drinking her glass of water while watching Darkness' preliminary round. At this moment she was entering the cave and since she was the last fighter to enter a horn blew and the fight began.

I pulled my spirit back towards me and it stood guard over me while I carried on meditating.

You may be thinking 'why the hell isn't he getting up and fighting? Why is he just meditating?' Well when I meditate I aura grows stronger which in turn makes any magic I cast stronger. I was meditating for ten minutes before anybody saw me. This guy was as low a Necromancer as you could get, I sensed him coming from a mile off and he's guardian was almost 8 times stronger than him. I used my spirit to fly over to his guardian and take control of her body. I then made her pull out her knife and slice his throat open. The guy was dead before he hit the floor and his guardian disappeared causing my spirit to return to my body.

"Right." I said cracking my knuckles.

I could feel somebody else approaching so I pulled out my bow and loaded two arrows. I was using petrify arrows and as soon as the person turned into the clearing I shot them both into his chest. I cast a quick invisibility spell and sent my blood to my feet to speed me up. Most people would use a haste spell but death step makes you so fast it is like you are teleporting. I ran forward slicing the head off of the petrified guy's body. As I ran around I killed the Nu Mou, two vampires, and another Exorcist. This was becoming too easy, not one of them saw me coming and the kills were quick. I stopped running and decided to go at normal speed.

As I was walking back to the middle of the cave I heard a gunshot and barely moved out of the way as it hit the wall where my left shoulder was before. Standing there was a vampire. I ran towards him and he put the gun away before running towards me. We both threw our right fists forward and they connected causing a large shockwave which knocked us both back. I was the first to recover and I ran towards him with my daggers out. I sliced him all over his body and his blood began pouring out. He jumped up and kicked my daggers out of my hands before sinking his teeth into my neck. He began sucking my blood out and I was feeling weaker and weaker as each drop left me, and I could sense him getting stronger. I turned my hand into blades and shoved them into his sides. He screamed out in pain and I pulled my hand out before shoving them into his eyes causing him to go blind. I walked away as he screamed in pain. Finally I took pity on the poor bastard and sent a huge beam of energy towards him which disintegrated his body.

I took a blood pill and went back to my place in the centre of the cave and as soon as I got there a giant skeletal dragon smashed through the wall with the Necromancer Mille on its back. The dragon landed and she got off, it was then that I noticed that she had Cloud with her. She didn't bother with small talk like most Necromancers she just pointed towards me and the dragon attacked. I held up my hand palm out and the dragon stopped right in front of me before lying down. I gave it a pat behind the ears and it disappeared. The look on Mille's face was one of rage and confusion. "What…how?" Was all she could say.

"I am the king of the dead, did you really think the un-dead would help you attack me? Sorry but you'll need a new tactic for fighting me." I laughed.

Her servant Cloud stepped forward and drew out his sword. She held out her hand and he stopped. She gave me one of those small innocent smiles that girls do. I shook my head to tell her that that won't work on me/ she shrugged her shoulders and shadows appeared on the ground and blood orcs appeared everywhere. She pointed towards me and they began to charge. I knew there was no way I could send them away so I began to summon myself. I couldn't summon my own army of blood orcs since they will join the ones already here and attack me. I decided to summon the reapers. The reapers are like my own little fan club, and it was because of them that I had the idea to wear what I am wearing. The reapers appeared and they wore a plain black robe with a black mist in the hood bit. The only difference between me and them is that they are wielding scythes and I have twin daggers. They are exactly the same height and build as me and it really confused the blood orcs. Mille looked more pissed then confused and began to cast magic.

The whole area became really dark and there was a grey mist covering the ceiling. I took a good look at it and realised that it wasn't mist but was clouds. As soon as I realised this bolts of lighting came shooting down frying the reapers at random. I made the lengths of my daggers increase and ran towards the blood orcs. I began slicing them. The first one I cut his arms off before a reaper finished him off, then I ran towards two more and as I ran in between them I cut their heads off. I could see Mille standing there concentrating on her magic so I jumped up and went for the strike. As I was about to hit her I hit an energy barrier and flew backwards, which was a bit lucky because had it not been there Cloud's sword strike would surly have sliced me in half. I did a quick scan and realised that my magic was strong enough to penetrate her shield. I cast a strong gravity attack in the centre of her barrier which pushed people out instead of pulling them in and it pushed her against her own shield. The force of the gravity was crushing her and she had to release the shield. As she did that I jumped forward and sliced her. She managed to block the attack with claws that were previously hidden in her gloves.

I pushed her hands away and went to stab her but she phased out. She appeared behind me and as she stabbed me my body turn into a blood mist and filled the entire area. She managed to put a shield around her and Cloud to stop them from choking but her blood orcs were not so lucky and they suffocated to death and disappeared. I turned myself back to normal threw three stakes of blood towards Mille. She didn't see it coming and her servant jumped in the way and took the hits. She turned around and saw Cloud on the floor dead. She was angry to begin with but what happened next went off of the scales. Her whole body went black and she shot a wave of red aura out of her feet and across the ground. It killed most of my reapers and got rid of the mist that covered the floor. The only reapers that survived were the ones that were floating.

She looked towards me and her eyes had gone pitch black and I felt pain all over my body. I was pulled up from the floor and my arms and legs shot out into a star position. The pain running through my body was much more then anything I have ever felt, it was worse then anything the Exorcist could do and it felt like my body was being eaten from the inside out. I turned myself into mist and only then was I able to control my body again, the pain was still there but it had dulled down a lot. I decided that this girl was not someone to play with so I decided to end the fight there and then.

I shot out five beams of energy from the mist before going back into my human form. I then fired all of my arrows, but each one I put a different element into them, I then jumped up and began to spin. I put my bow away and drew out my long daggers. I flew down towards her, and hit her dead on. I was still spinning when I hit her and she was cut multiply times by my daggers. I flew away and landed on the other end of the cave and turned to face her. She was still standing but took the full force of my attack and you could feel as well as see that she was heavily weakened by it. She grew a pair of blood wings and when it looked like she was going to attack she retreated back through the hole in the wall upon which she entered.

Once my reapers saw that I was not going to follow her they proceeded to. "Stop." I called out to them. "Leave her, she has earned this."

I sent my reapers away and looked for any remaining competitors. It didn't take me long to find him. He was a vampire, a new one by the look of him and I quickly chopped his head off. As I did that I heard the horn once more and realised that the fight was over. I walked back to the centre of the cave before leaving and saw that Cloud was still there. "Humph, she made it through as well." I said to myself.

I picked up Cloud and walked towards the exit. As I approached I saw Mille leaving and called out to her. I handed her Cloud with a nod and left.

**

* * *

**

I was walking through the town centre when I entered a hotel and walked up to the front desk. "Darkness in light's room number." I said.

The guy had a look of pure fear on his face. "I…I'm sor…sorry sir, I…I cannot give…out that info…information."

I took the bookings book from in front of him and looked in there for it. "Room 213." I said. "Thank you."

I walked up to the second floor and down the hall to the door for room 213. I pulled a note out of my pocket and quickly re-read it.

_Darkness my friend,_

_Although I haven't been able to come and see you know that I am watching._

_The reason I haven't been able to see you is the same reason I have sent you this note. I know you travel with two Necromancers and their servants and therefore I will not show myself until the time is right._

_But I need you to be on your guard, the Exorcists plan to attack the tournament. I don't know when or how but I know it will happen. I ask that you tell nobody and that you please trust me, I will explain everything in good time._

_R_

**

* * *

**

**Well there you have it folks the next chapter will be the line up for the tournament and then it will begin. I promise you that we will try to write up all the fights but although we will try we may not be able to. But I promise you there will be lots of blood, death, and Kel bashing so there is a lot to look forward to.**

**Kel's kick arse guild of authors**

**Munchin out.**


	27. Public service announcement

**Public announcement to the spectators of the magelympics in Maldeera**

**RE: the king of the dead tournament**

* * *

Wow folks! That ends the final preliminary round, the last of the contestants have been selected and we are only waiting on the contestants to pair up and form the final teams for the event. Once selection is finished and their choices are made we can bring you the full line up!

But _damn!_ Did you see in the last round there when Bloods rainfire pulled that one guy in halves with his bare hands? I tell ya' that is one thing we're guaranteed to see in the highlights later tonight! Talking of highlights, I don't know if anyone else noticed this but in the background of this shot – _image of the blizzard of blood spells decapitating a bangaa female appears on the 'broadcast' illusions_ – can you all see what the darkness of the abyss is doing with that sword? It's a wonder he manages to push it that far in isn't it?

_-Half an hour later-_

We have it folks! The final team nominations and the times for the battles tomorrow!

_No Gale you can't have it, go away I'm on air here._

At dawn tomorrow morning we have what might be the biggest match of the day! Set your alarms and get the hell up early so you don't miss anything. Match one of block A is the whisperer of the void – a relative unknown who showed a huge affinity for original spell creation in the prelims and let slip his use of several Rokushiki techniques, previously believed to be exclusive to exorcists. His partner is a lovely young girl named Hex who has shown unusual aptitude for trickery. But facing off with them are Mythos – a blood magic type with a heavy offence focus and 'colonel sanders' – I mean come on! Technically we don't allow entrants into the tournament without submitting their real names so presumably someone knows this guy's real name but it isn't here anywhere in my notes! How freaking suspicious is that? Plus he demolished his whole prelim round while invisible!

_God damn it Gale! It's just a dollar, take the damn thing and go the hell away!_

At twelve noon we have match one of block B. The only one out of a whole dozen competitors not to go down against mystery man Sanders – the necromancer better described as sex on legs Mille – and her chosen team mate the man with the sword that could eat your soul at a hundred paces and one of two survivors of the harrowing ordeal in Jagd earlier today – Icarax the assassinator! _Kel stop touching me I'm busy ... YES you're annoying me, mission accomplished so go AWAY._ Ahem. Facing off with them are the dynamite duo – a pair of blood magic masters the Blizzard of blood spells, already famous for using all those old and tired blood spells that everyone knows in new and nasty ways we never thought of using them before and his student the youthful prodigy known as Chibi!

_KEL! That is IT! I'm going to start wounding you now. I don't know when I may stop._

Err... due to a minor, _crunch_, umm... technical fault, _ARGHH!!!_ I will be taking over the duties of our regular commentary staff.

At sunset we have the darkness of the Abyss – who some of you may recall from the afore mentioned sword incident – teaming up with Overkill – undoubtedly the most homicidal of all of this tournament's sociopaths. Facing them is a team made of the rare and ominous – long has mana necromancy been viewed as something foreign to most of us and usually as an omen of change in the coming days, well mana necromancy enters the ring in all it's glory in the form of Bloods rainfire. Lastly we have Fate, not more than a girl herself and not of truly notable skill in any field on necromantic power she none the less has possibly the biggest trump card of all our contestants – long regarded as the strongest servant and the only immortal considered to be equal to an A-rank necromancer, Sephiroth takes the field as an immortal servant for the fifth time in recorded history.

_Uggh!_

_NO! She warned you to stop it. That's what you get for pissing her off while she tries to work. ... no I don't feel sorry for you._

Then at moonrise we see the last match of block B and the last match of round one. If all the others somehow manage to disappoint, if the unknown random with the obviously fake name turns out to be nothing worth hiding, if the Blizzard and his apprentice fail to whip up a storm and if the darkness of the Abyss decides not to repeat his little sword trick – this match will make up for it. On one hand we have a team made up of the only non-necromancers to make it through the preliminaries – the white princess of the true ancestors of the vampire race, high daylight walking shinso and controller of the millennium castle Brunstud, Arcueid Brunstud. Her partner claims to be just a normal human but he walks beside a succubus familiar, he inherits the name of the famously demon blooded Tohno clan and in his vein flows the blood of the deadly Nanaya family; Tohno Shiki. Facing off with them are easily the two most well known names in the tournament – black of eye, black of skin, black of magic and some even say black of soul, Black road the most famous and infamous of clan assassins in all of Ivalice currently on vacation from his current clan centurio. At his side, and above his head, stands the name on everyone's lips this month – the darkness in light, slayer of exorcists and able to puncture this very city's magical barriers with her teleportation skills she also makes a personal request that we stop crediting her with the death of the Amalaric sniper saying that she was merely there when the great general Reaper killed him.

There you have it guys! The full line up. Also new this year – now that the main rounds have started each of the competing teams may make a selection. One team may choose the rules of the match while the other team is permitted to name an environment that exists somewhere on Ivalice. If the rules are judged fair the match will be conducted under those terms and no matter what environment is named our master illusion crafters will summon up the location and emulate it down to the last detail.

Well fans, that's all she wrote. Look forward to finding out what the new rules are and where the fighting will take place. See you at dawn!

**

* * *

Hooray for one am! After all when else would I write my fanfiction?**

**Pfeh!**

**Munchin gave me the lineup for this, I just typed it out (well we also argued about it for a bit but …**

**Oh yeah – this is the real deal from now on. Plenty of violence and possible author character death. If you sent in a bio and were too half arsed to write an intro chapter you will be among the first to fall!**

**DoE out.**

**Munchin in.**

**Like Ether said that is the FINAL line up and people will die, it's what I'm best at. Also what Ether forgot to tell you is what character belongs to whom. I know they belong to me and Ether now but who made them:**

**REAPER/COLONEL SANDERS – MUNCHIN. **(DoE note: Sorry im a negima fan, i made him do it)

**DARKNESS IN LIGHT – ETHER.**

**FATE – ANZMAN14.**

**MYTHOS – REAPER BOY.**

**BLOODS RAINFIRE – BLAZE.**

**MILLE – BERRY.**

**HEX – DEMI.**

**CHIBI – PIKADUDE/BOLT DRAGON TSUKI.**

**OVERKILL – ESN.**

**DARKNESS OF THE ABYSS – MAJINKEN.**

**WHISPERER OF THE VOID – GALE.**

**BLIZZARD OF BLOOD SPELLS – NOT JACK FROST.**

**ICARAX – ICARAX (Not that you didn't know that already).**

**BLACK ROAD – KEL.**

**I had trouble remembering them while writing the story so I thought you might not know it.**

**So the teams are:**

**Munchin – Reaper boy**

**Ether – Kel**

**Gale – Demi**

**Icarax – Berry**

**Pikadude – Not Jack Frost**

**Majinken – ESN**

**Blaze – anzman14**

**Munchin out.**


	28. Punishment divine

**Punishment divine**

**

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I was lying on my bed thinking about the fight tomorrow. Yeah Mythos passed through his preliminary round but he was very lucky that that guy showed up to help him. Was he really the best choice to fight alongside me? I don't actually care about winning, I am only here to stop the Exorcist but Whisperer and Hex are both strong Necros and I will not go out in the first round. Ahhh, it's just pre fight jitters. Once I step out onto the field I will be fine and Mythos will hold his own. But still I wasn't convinced; in the end I spent most of the night lying awake just thinking about the fight.

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It was about an hour before dawn and after no sleep I decided to get up and go. I was standing outside the arena just looking at it. After about 5 minutes my legs finally moved and I walked inside. I walked into the backstage area. It is a massive room where anybody competing in the tournament can go; it has a massive buffet, screens to watch the current fight on, a large bar area, and no fangirls huddling around you. I grabbed some food and sat down. Once I had finished and got seconds Mythos came in and sat across from me. "Man how can you eat?" He asked obviously nervous.

"I'm hungry." I said before I carried on eating.

He just stared at me. "Look." I said reluctantly putting down my fork. "We all have our own way of dealing with things. You don't eat, where as I don't sleep."

"So you are worried about Whisperer and Hex."

"What? Hell no."

"Then why didn't you sleep?"

Oh yeah, I forgot I haven't told Mythos about the Exorcist attack, shit, should I tell him? Nah, he doesn't need to know. "Too much caffeine." I said hopefully ending the discussion.

The sun was just coming up when Whisperer and Hex walked in. they didn't even get a chance to have a drink since as soon as they came in we were told our fight would begin in two minutes. I stood up and walked towards the fighting arena. The doors opened and I stepped out into the light. There were thousands of people watching and there must be millions more watching on screens all over the city. All four of us walked to the middle where the official judge for the fight was standing. "Hex heads or tails." He said flicking a coin into the air.

"Heads."

The coin landed on the floor and it was heads. "Location or rules." He asked her and Whisperer.

"Location." She said. "I want to fight here in the arena."

"Yes, that is fine." He said. He turned to face me. "Rules."

"No servants, just us four." I said to the judge.

"Dude, what are you doing?" Mythos asked.

"Just trust me." I said.

"Mythos, do you agree to the rule?" the judge asked him.

"Yes."

The judge's voice grew loud enough to fill the whole arena. "The fight will be held in the arena and the only rule is there are no servants allowed. Sanders, Mythos, Whisperer, and Hex…Fight."

As he finished speaking a huge horn sound erupted from all around us and the crowd started to cheer.

1 - _And here it is folks the first round of the tournament, all bets are now closed for this match._

_2 – Yes Bob, now about the fight, I for one was surprised with Sanders' choice of rules, most people would like their servant to help out, I know I would._

_1 – Well Jon it wouldn't surprise me if Sanders made his servant invisible and she is in there helping him._

_2 – It wouldn't be the first time somebody has cheated in a tournament._

While them idiots (commentators) were talking to themselves and forgetting to do their jobs me and Whisperer were circling each other. Hex and Mythos were already getting down to the fighting and it looked fairly even. Whisperer was the first to make a move, he ran towards me, when he was almost in front of me he pulled his fist back and as he went to punch me blood came out of his fist creating a sword. I used the kamie form of rokushiki and moved around whisperers move with ease and tripped him up.

1 – Wow here's something new, we knew that Whisperer was training in the arts of the rokushiki but it seems that Colonel Sanders also knows at least some of them. This should really liven up this fight.

2 – Well that sounds interesting but at the moment I'm more interested in Hex and Mythos. It is so early in the fight and it looks like Hex is ready to finish him off.

Whisperer dropped to the floor I noticed that Mythos was having trouble so I trapped Whisperer in a cage of bones and phased out. When I reappeared I was standing above Mythos and I grabbed Hex's axe just before it connected with his throat. I pulled the axe back and slammed my fist into her stomach sending her flying across the arena and into one of the sidewalls. I did a quick healing spell and Mythos was up on his feet right away. "Careful Mythos, I might not be there next time." I said a little too harshly to him.

"Sorry, I keep expecting Paine to back me up. Why did we have to do this with no servants?" he asked dusting himself down.

"Because they would've out numbered us. Not now we'll talk about it later." I said as Whisperer broke out of the bone cage and charged towards us. I ran towards Whisperer and Mythos went back after Hex. When Whisperer was close enough I used the few skills I had within the geppou form of rokushiki and ran over Whisperer.

_2 – Another rokushiki technique. How many of these does Sanders know? I can't wait to see what other surprises he has up his sleeve._

As I was getting higher a small grin appeared on Whisperer's face. It was then that I notice it was getting more windy by the second, once I was above his head he clapped his hands together and a massive tornado came out of his hands and wrapped around me. Whisperer swung the tornado around above his head before slamming it down onto the floor. I tried to break out of it but the wind was just too strong and it kept pulling me in. after I hit the floor for the third time I realised that he could keep this up for a long time and on the forth hit I shot my hand into the ground and used it as an anchor. When he pulled the tornado up it left me behind but damn did it hurt a lot. The wind on the edge of the tornado was very intense and it ripped at my skin, which show that he is a powerful wind mage because my cloak was designed to withstand all elemental attacks.

Whisperer was busy looking up at his tornado to realise that it left me behind. I pulled my arm out of the ground and it was covered in cut and was bleeding heavily. I ran over to him. He didn't see me until the last minute and he froze with shock, that one second of shock was all I needed to do my attack. I put my arm out in front of me and the blood coming out of my arm spread out into a mist and covered Whisperer, his tornado disappeared and the wind calmed down. He tried to run from it but it followed him wherever he went. His body started to shake like he was having a fit. 'Oh shit I said, I forgot about that. The holy particles in my blood must be entering his system when he breathes in. It is probably burning him inside out. I am torturing the poor guy to death.' I thought.

I made the mist disappear and he panted finally able to get some air that doesn't burn. "Dude I am sorry." I said.

He gave me a confused look, like it was the first time his enemy had apologised for hurting him. "I didn't know that the mist would do that. I'm not one to torture his opponent to death, it is inhumane and unsporting. Heal yourself and we will continue when you feel ready." I said.

1 – What is Sanders doing?

_2 – It looks like he is letting Whisperer recover from that attack, who though? Is it part of a plan of his?_

_1 – I don't know but I have never seen anybody do that before. That Sanders is a weird one._

2 – Aye, I agree with you there Jon.

Whisperer had used a curaga spell and healed himself, once he was breathing normally again he gave me a nod in thanks and attacked again. He threw his hands down on the floor and shooting out all around me were long strings of darkness energy. It looked a bit like the lifestream but it was pitch black. They flew up into the air and then turned direction and came shooting down towards me. I used my kamie moves to dance around them. Not one hit me but I didn't realise that they weren't just attacking me but making a web around me and I saw that I was trapped. The web turned into a dome and was slowly drawing itself in and it was going to compress me. I ran towards the edge of it and tried to cut through it with my daggers. It bended wherever the daggers touch it and it was like a very strong rubber substance. 'Shit, I'm gonna run out of air soon.' I thought.

I made my way back into the middle and sat down with my legs crossed. I began to meditate and my spirit left my body. It flew up towards the edge of the dome but couldn't go through it. I opened my eyes in surprise and my spirit returned. I closed my eyes again and meditated once more. A small black light appeared on my chest where my heart is and began to spread outwards. It was now covering my whole body. I shot it outwards and it began to merge with the dome and it gave me full control of it.

I broke the dome apart and walked out in time to see Whisperer put a sword through Mythos' heart. Mythos fell to the ground and Whisperer made the blood sword disappear. A smile appeared on his face and he turned to Hex and gave her a nod. My mind went blank. I ran towards him knocking Hex to the side, she smacked her head on the floor and it looked like she was out cold. I pulled my arm back and begun punching all over his body, he managed to block some of the attacks but most of them connected with his chest and face. I was slowly pushing him backwards and I ended the attack with a spin kick to his stomach that caused him to go flying into a corner of the arena.

I walked towards him and blood poured all over his arm and shot towards me like a spear. I didn't even try to dodge the attack. The spear hit me in my right shoulder and the weird thing was that it healed me instead of hurting. The spear retreated out of me and shot back towards whisperer. I noticed that connected to the end of the spear of blood was a shard of metal no bigger then an inch wide at the base and it was shaped like a triangle. The blood and shard went back into his arm and then I notice that it was uncomfortable for him. 'Ha, the boy has a holy weapon in him but can't use it without hurting himself, well I'll show him how to do a holy attack properly.' I thought.

The wind picked up and it parted the cloud enough to let the sun shine down on me. White beams of aura began to wrap themselves around me from the top down to my feet where they stopped creating a puddle of holy energy. The puddle began to rise upwards and it rose me around two feet of off the floor before it shot off like a tidal wave. Once it was around a meter away from me the wave grew to ten feet and splashed down on Whisperer.

1 – OH MY GOD, A HOLY ATTACK, SANDERS CAN USE HOLY ENERGY, HE HAS THE POWER OF THE EXORCISTS, SURELY THAT IS AN UNFAIR ADVANTAGE AND AGAINST THE RULES.

2 – Whoa calm down Jon, there is nothing in the rulebook saying anything about holy powers being against the rules, but you are right it is an unfair advantage and I believe the odds on Sanders winning the tournament just went to evens. There is no way anybody will be able to defeat him now.

I floated down to the floor and the wave disappeared and I saw Whisperer slumped down on the floor leaning against the wall. I put my holy energy into my daggers and phased out appearing in front of Whisperer. I stabbed one of them into his shoulder and he screamed out in pain. I pulled the other one back ready to cut his head off. "I GIVE." He screamed holding his arms up

I wanted to cut his head off but because he was officially out of the tournament it would be classed as murder and I would be expelled from Maldeera let alone the tournament. "RETRACT IT!" I yelled kicking him in the stomach. "STAND AND FIGHT YOU BASTARD!"

The judge came over and pulled me away telling me anymore and I'd be disqualified from the tournament. He put his hand on Whisperer's chest and made him disappear.

1 – Well Bob that's two people down and if Hex is still unconscious then Sanders has won the round.

2 – Well Jon she is a bit groggy but she is standing and that means the fight must go on.

Once Whisperer disappeared I calmed down a lot and I heard what the commentators said. I turned to look at Hex and she was standing but barely. She was bleeding from the head and she healed herself with a quick Curaga before spotting me. She looked around for Whisperer and when she looked back at me I shook my head slowly to tell her it was just me and her left. She shrugged and then black beams of energy shot out of her feet and flew up into the sky and made the clouds disappear. After a few seconds of nothing happening I started to walk towards her. As I was walking the whole area became a bit darker. I looked up and saw that there was a massive cloud blocking out the sun. as I looked closer I noticed that it wasn't a cloud but hundreds of swords. They came raining down on the whole arena. I tried to dodge them but there was too many and they went through my arms, legs and torso pinning me to the floor.

Hex walked up to me and looked down. I looked at her and all she had was a cut on her cheek. She picked up one of the swords of off the floor and held it above my head. As she pushed it down my body exploded sending her flying back. I phased out and appeared next to her, all of my wounds were healing themselves except for one on my left hand. I put my hand on her cheek and our blood mixed together. My blood entered her body and I began to take over. I was pushing my darkness into her when it met some resistance. Her body began to fight back and her darkness was pushing mine back out. Once her darkness had full control again I removed my hand before she decided to fight back. I slammed my fist into her stomach causing her to fly a few feet into the air. I grabbed hold of her and did a summersault kick causing her to fly back.

I pulled out my daggers and held them down at my side. I made the daggers grow in length until they touched the floor. I then ran towards her with my swords scraping along the floor. When I reached her I jumped up slicing her across her chest. I flew up about 15 feet in the air when I did a back flip and threw my swords down at her. They connected with her and lodged themselves in her chest. I then built up a lot of energy in my hands and released it. They flew off in al directions but they all turned around and hit the swords. The energy build up in the swords caused them to overload with power and the energy exploded sending Hex flying. The swords ripped away from her body and landed on the floor. I landed down next to them and picked them up. I walked towards Hex and crossed the sword at her throat. "Give up." I said.

The damage to her body was so severe that if she didn't quit now she would die with in a minute, she was losing that much blood. "No, I will not give up I came here to fight to the death and if death is what I get then so be it."

I shook my head in disappointment. I pulled my sword away and they turned back into daggers and I put them away. I did a spin kick and kicked her in the face knocking her out. The fight was over I had won. I healed her wounds and shoved a blood pill down her mouth. She had the warrior's spirit and if the Necromancers were to survive then it needed people like her around.

1 – Well there you have it folks, the winner of the first match of the tournament is Sanders and what a match it was, rokushiki, holy attacks if the other rounds have as many surprises as this one then we are in for one great tournament.

2 – You are right there Jon, I'm already looking forward to the next match and I hope it will be as good as this one.

1 – This is Jon and Bob signing out, we will see you at the next round.

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**A/N: I realise that there have been a lot of holy attacks in this story and it is meant to be about Necromancer so I will say that Reaper/Sanders, Darkness and Whisperer are the only three able to use holy attacks and Whisperers is limited to that small shard of metal which came from the holy rods which Darkness, Black road, and Whisperer made a few chapters ago.**

**Kel's Kick Arse Guild of Authors**

**Munchinmoster**


	29. Certain victory lotus tune

**Certain victory lotus tune**

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I tried to watch Whisperer's match, I really did. Road was really into it he cheered all the way through it and jumped up and down in his seat. I was too busy being confused and watching his enemy, now that I pay closer attention this 'Colonel Sanders' is almost beyond doubt the same guy who sat at the table next to us and chatted to his friend about Reaper being here the other night. I _had _dismissed the idea, but then last night I found that note and I'm all but positive that Reaper really is back somehow. It almost _has_ to be him, it cant really be a prank or trick someone is using to throw me off guard in the tournament – if nothing else the only person not bound to my will who knows me well enough to try something like that is Reaper himself.

So I spent the whole match wondering if the tiny black cloaked figure in the illusory broadcast (I have come to think of these as 'TV' illusions) was Reaper. On one hand it could be – I certainly didn't fight alongside him enough to know anything like enough about him to judge his identity based on his fighting style, sure he used guns and spears when I fought with him but there is no reason to believe that he doesn't use daggers and archery just as well. More and more however I find myself drawn to the idea that the cloaked mister 'Sanders' is under Reaper's command and eventually as the fight progresses I find myself drawn to the idea of following him and maybe even locating Reaper once he reaches wherever he goes after his battle.

I look to my left and take in the rapt face of Road – somehow, after going through their prelims together, they decided to split up and form new teams so that they could each test their 'student' in the main matches. Frankly I don't really think that half a month of Whisperer teaching Road how to develop new spirit magic and Road imparting the basics of Rokushiki on whisperer really counts as long enough for them to consider each other their 'students' but I honestly don't care enough to express my opinion on the matter. All that really matters to me is that I have a partner whose abilities I am familiar with and able to trust to fight at a certain level. In all honesty, if he wasn't aiming almost entirely to gain fame by killing me, I would have preferred Icarax, but yeah, the whole out for my life thing undermines team spirit a little.

Road's face tells you everything he's thinking right now, he's like an open book. He tries to lean even further forward but he is already – in a very literal sense – on the edge of his seat. I glance down to the arena and it is immediately clear why, Whisperer is looking fairly well screwed. Backed into a corner and breathing heavily he raises his left arm, his palm pointed at the robed Sanders, at first it looks like a gesture begging for mercy but then huge waves of magical energy began to build around him and he clutched the arm with his opposite hand just above the elbow so tightly it looked like he was trying to pull the limb off.

The black robed figure is implacable as he advances on the panicking Whisperer, what happened to make him rage out like that? Then I see the corpse of his partner being teleported out of the ring, obviously it was Whisperer who did the deed. The black robe is stunned a moment when a huge beam passes through him, but truly he isn't harmed by it as far as I can see, that leads me to even more disturbing thoughts about who this guy could possibly be. Even if it doesn't harm the adversary he hesitates, so it buys enough time for us to all see Whisperer's hidden new skill, ouch ... truly that is all I can say for the skill.

As Road moans and carries on in sympathetic pain I phase his voice out of my consciousness – I grow distracted and wonder where the man in black's own servant is, what sort of necromancer sets the rules in a battle so that they cant use their servant? The first time I saw him in battle I assumed him to be the same type as Icarax, the type to keep their servant out of harm's reach and acting as a conduit they could draw extra magical power through in a pinch. The fact that it isn't a violation of the tournament rules to leave your servant standing at a crystal to basically provide you with a link to unlimited mana has crossed my mind. But checking him with magical sight reveals only the lashing snapped end of a connection to a servant who has died, but why would a necromancer enter a battle like this without bothering to resurrect their servant?

I resolve to follow this Colonel as soon as he leaves the duel and follow him back to wherever he goes. Once we get there ... well I might start out by asking nicely what he knows about Reaper, but if he doesn't answer ... Well they _do_ say that 'when all else fails, violence prevails'.

It's not like I'll be missing much, if Road's excited banter is anything to go by I'll get blow by blow replays of the whole battle for the next day or more.

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I sit and curse my own stupidity, of _course_ the damned hooded mystery would come and sit here. I was stupid to think the he would just leave the arena and lead me to reaper. Mythos and the Colonel are sitting two rows in front of Road and I, in the room set aside for competitors who wish to see other rounds when they aren't participating. _Damn it,_ literally everyone who isn't currently involved in a fight or dead is taking the chance to gather intel on their possible future opponents so why _wouldn't_ the hooded figure return here?

Still I manage to tear my attention from the bastard in black and watch the next battle, after all even if the eventual winner goes nuts and kills their team mate as well we will still have to fight at least one of these four tomorrow. Already the stage is set – Team Blizzard chose the rules; both members of each team and their servants will take the field at the same time in a massive team battle, summoning is also completely within the rules meaning that with eight beings out there capable of summoning undead minions this could rapidly wind up looking like a military campaign if they all go for conjuration straight away. The winning conditions are the death, crippling or surrender of both members of the opposing team. It doesn't escape me that win by knockout isn't in the rules – logically if someone fall unconscious they cant actually surrender so the winner either has to slit their throat or wait for them to come around and give up.

Right now we're watching the coming confrontation but we have no sound because the illusionist responsible for casting the audio component of the battles was knocked out by a shockwave near the end of the last battle and they haven't been able to locate a backup yet. All our 'commentary' at the moment comes in the form of bits of cardboard with hastily scrawled updates held in front of the mage who is handling the vision side of the illusions.

Of the four visible in the illusion projected over the wall of the room containing the other competitors at least one person is thinking the same thing – Icarax has a huge smile on is face and hasn't stopped since hearing those rules laid down. When it came time for team Mille to make their choice Icarax leapt in with his own preference – the battle will take place in the Nabraeus plains as they were twenty years ago, before the conflict with Archades turned them into the famous deadlands. At Icarax's request the four and their servants were gestured toward a small room prepared for a short ritual, at the end of which they were transported to a small artificial dimension simulating the environment requested.

The battle is to take place on a huge plain of luscious green grass and gently rolling hills since the simulated space doesn't include lifeforms other than the competitors I really have no idea what sort of animals and monsters would have roamed these fields but even so – it is a huge difference when compared to the swampy ruin of the deadlands.

A huge holographic image of the referee stood in the space separating the opposing teams for a second or two before vanishing and signalling the match to begin.

In an instant Icarax's servant was flying backward as though shot in the face.

I snort in surprise, "Wha...? what was that?"

"Rakansen," of course Road answers. The reason I chose to team up with him rather than whisperer is the way our skills overlap, on one hand Whisperer and I have almost the same skillset meaning that a team of the two of us would be strong in original spirit magic and weak in close range and physical. I took Road because between us we cover long range, short range, weapons, unarmed, blood magic and spirit magic. Road's knowledge of physical techniques should help us a lot, "it's actually a very interesting use of a combination of blood spell 37, bloody bullet and Rakansen. Weaker servants can only dodge and block things at that speed by sensing the innate killing intent of the object so they have gone from bullets to the Rakansen which uses coins – something that is much less intrinsically lethal than a bullet – so that the weaker servants who rely on killing intent to dodge cant sense the attack.

"They transmute the blood used to make the discs with a sleep spell or some tranquilisers, because killing poisons would make it lethal and give it killing intent again, and on hitting it gets absorbed and weak targets are removed from the battle in a single stroke. It's very efficient. Of course –some servants are strong enough to detect the attack by other methods."

While the explanation goes on I noted the same thing myself – Cloud's sword has two splotches of red on the blade where he likely blocked Rakansen for both himself and Mille. I wonder how Icarax blocked the one aimed for him but not the one aimed for his servant, although by the look on his face as he glances at her and mutters I gather he expected better of her then she delivered.

"Oh?" my eyes move to the front of the room at the noise – Arcueid, one of the team Road and I will be facing tonight, leans forward in her seat.

During the explanation the blizzard of blood spells has used the cover of his apprentice and their two servant's three way rakansen assault to summon something BIG, there is no way of knowing whether it's big as in a huge army or big as in a huge creature but already the portal forming in front of him is massive.

The rakansen assault doesn't seem to be buying the time the magically inclined duo desire though, in fact only one person is actually occupied with defending against it. While Cloud stands in the breach, his arms a blur as he bats hundreds of magical projectiles out of the air, creating a safe area behind himself for his master to cast a summoning of her own. This summon seems smaller than that of Blizzard but some of the runes bear a disgusting familiarity from my life before necromancy, they feel like something I should remember but I don't. Icarax for his part is just ignoring the rain of death about him, with is demon sword now fully unsheathed its unholy aura seems to be almost _eating _the incoming projectiles before they can make it close enough to touch his skin.

Finally, out of the huge portal on the Blizzard side of the field came a ghost dragon. Something I'm only familiar with in theory the ghost dragons are said to have less physical strength than their bone counterparts but keep roughly the same level of offensive power by aging any lifeform they touch, add to this that their defensive powers are much greater due to their non-physical bodies and they are a fear inspiring dragon indeed. The portal behind Mille on the other hand began to glow and was decorated with an array, a pentagram surrounded with writing. From it sprung a woman, her hair is blonde and she wears a special police uniform. But both her arms are missing, blood spews from the stumps and her blue eyes fill with pain.

Just as Blizzard begins to laugh at his adversary's flawed summoning those blue eyes fill with so much pain that they seem to have reached their limit. Then the turn red. The red eyes burn with hate and anger and the blood stops flowing out, the blood already spilt becomes something like solidified shadow and writhes at her command like the blood forming my left hand.

"What is she? She feels like a vampire but ..." Arcueid, our resident vampire, seems puzzled, as though she doesn't understand how something can feel so much like one of her kind but not be.

I feel sort of proud of myself that I'm the one in the room who can offer the answer, "She is a vampire. That summoning spell sure is something. She is a vampire of a completely different kind, unrelated to you true ancestors – created by the crimson moon – or the dead apostles – born when your kind feed on humans – of this world, she is a vampire descended from Cain, the first murderer. From what I understand they only exist one worlds that closely resemble the Earth I was born on, her powers and nature are a curse from god rather than an imperfection in her divine creation like yours. I must say I am impressed that Mille can summon something from a realm sideways of ours rather than reaching down to hell or up to heaven."

First the right arm's shadow fluids shift to form a large wing, then the base of the wing sprouts a mirror image so that the police girl has a pair of wings growing from the stump of one arm and she begins to fly using them. The trailing shadow fluids of her left arm are at first dragged behind her but as she passes by the still rakansen-ing group it flails to one side, picking up one of the servants – whose name I don't remember but whose face gives me that same feeling that I should remember her that Aeris did when we first met – by the simple expedient of spearing her three times through the chest on it and lifts her up to eye level.

Just then we get a huge burst of static through the room followed by an announcer's voice: _We apologise for the inconvenience prior to this point and are proud to announce that sound has been restored on all of our broadcasts. Once again we apologise for our earlier difficulties._

The sound comes back just in time for us to catch the sickly snapping noises as the still nameless servant is drained by the cainite vampire until it turns to ash. Once the morsel is devoured the police girl moves on to engage the ghost dragon, landing so that she can turn her wings back into free flowing shadow and lash at the creature with both hands. Fortunately for her the shadowy substance seems to be able to touch ghosts quite easily and she begins to rip it apart.

While Chibi and his servant – Penelo? I really should recall the blonde girl more clearly since she is one of the 'saviours' of the world we are on but as it is I can only guess – turn in shock at their comrade's violent screaming Icarax picks up to a run and slips past them as well. But as he passes his demon blade swings out, cutting Penelo's neck halfway through from behind in a brutally efficient and – in some way shockingly elegant – execution technique and she falls to the grassy plain with almost no blood spilled since her jugular remains intact but with her spinal chord severed and probably a slit cut into the back of her windpipe, just wide enough to let her drown in her own blood while paralysis robs her of the ability to act.

Once past them Icarax casts a short enchantment on his sword before striking, the blizzard manages to raise a shield to block the blow but the spell goes off and both he and Icarax are teleported several hundred metres away. For a moment I'm shocked at that technique before I remind myself that this battle is taking place before the region became Jagd, of course they can all teleport. But now the teacher-student teamwork is cut off because they are simply too far apart and the individual dynamics of team Mille have the advantage.

By now Mille has surrounded herself with half a dozen more summoning portals, each bearing the mark of the previous alternate dimension summoning but subtle differences that say she is calling on a different type of creature. With a wave of her arm she calls up a half dozen wolfmen, half again the height of a human and muscled like a titan each could rip a tank asunder.

"These are lupines, the _loupes garou_, they come from worlds that are inhabited by canite vampires," I explain to Road beside me, who looks ready to leap up and start cheering for both sides for putting on an entertaining show for him, "they're something like natural enemies for all dark creatures, not really holy they just hate darkness, so I don't know how she managed to get them to serve her."

"Look at their dark auras – they are Fomorii, they are what a werewolf becomes when it succumbs to the influence of a demon," the explanation comes form Colonel Sanders and i pause for so long trying to decide whether his voice is like Reaper's that I miss my chance to engage him in conversation.

At the far side of the image Icarax and Blizzard are blurring together, I never thought someone who calls themself a magic specialist would be able to move well enough in physical combat to match Icarax. But the two are like liquid lightning, flowing together and apart in a frenetic dance. Blizard cannot truly fight at anything close to Icarax's speed but his ability to control so many blood blades and shield spells at once allows him to defend well enough to keep the killer at bay. Icarax for his part cannot match the force behind his opponent's blood magic and frequently finds his sword forced back by particularly large spells and his vicious assaults repelled by sheer numbers of tiny defensive spells but the near constant rain of tiny needling spells and minor elemental magics designed to distract him and create distance are all absorbed by the intense dark aura of his blade.

It becomes hard to watch either fight as suddenly both are coming to a head and I wish I could split into two people so I don't miss a second of either.

While Icarax tries to force a killing blow past his enemy's guard and Blizzard tries to force enough distance to incant a truly powerful spell Chibi's voice fills the air in terrified incantation.

"I call on you now from the land of the dead!" the army of six fomorii approaches the screaming blood mage at high speed, "To strike with the hammer of godly thunder!" but it looks like Chibi will make it, "INDIGNATION!"

Lightning, more like a huge black pillar, easily more than twice as thick as I am tall, fills my vision and even the duelling Icarax and Blizzard halt as the black lightning fills the whole simulated space with a light that is not light. The six were-creatures are much too close to the centre of the blast to escape and are reduced to piles of impure carbon in an instant, only one is far enough away that I can track the progress of it's death as first it's skin, then muscle and finally bone is blackened and blown away. But it doesn't stop there, where the lightning strikes the soil it begins to flow outwards.

Cloud leaps in front of Mille and his sword explodes into five blades, four are embedded in the soil at his feet with their handles pointing inward to his hand, the last is in his opposite hand and pointed backward over his master's head. The wave of lightning hits and travels up the earthed blades, through cloud's body and bursts back skyward in a huge arc, creating a save zone around Mille.

Recovering from the shock of the move more quickly because he is has seen it before Blizzard casts a forced displacement spell, sending Icarax flying back toward where he started the match. The killer lands in a heap, bloodied and disoriented by the unconscious body of his servant and Blizzard's voice fills the air, spelling death for his enemies with the same spell his student used to lay waste to the summoned werewolves, "I call on you now from the land of the dead!"

Icarax's head snaps up and his sword flies from where it landed to his outstretched hand, his left hand digs into his servant's chest and draws a huge power into himself.

"To strike with the hammer o..."

"MEIDOU!"

With an almost sickening crunch Blizzard is simply _gone,_ somehow it's more horrifying than watching those creatures turned to ash, one moment he was there then with a sucking motion into a single point he was not. Not even just 'not there' he was 'not'.

"Oh? This should be good."

The comment from the robed figure of Sanders confuses me for a moment before I realised he wasn't looking at Icarax but at Mille. Even then I had no idea what he meant until I saw her tears. Of the five ways of creating new spells this one yields the most powerful creations, although they are attuned to the casters nature and you can never teach them to another. When a necromancer manages to reach the pinnacle of one necromantic art, as I did with transport based spirit magic and Mille has with conjuring, without ever having their servant killed and with an extremely close relationship to the servant, which she apparently has judging from tears, the shock of their first death can send the necromancer into a frenzy where the shape of their soul manifests as a new and unique spell of the class in which they are a master. It is exceedingly rare since most servants die and are resurrected at least once long before their master reaches mastery of any artform. Even then – if the necromancer knows about the creation of spells by this method it wont occur since the shock of the servant's death wont cause the same sort of frenzy if one is expecting it. Yeah – I researched this when I was trying to figure out what happened during my fight with the assassin, while waiting for those damn whale whiskers to finish being made actually.

"I have no need of the weak. Sand aside from my sight children of Cain," she banishes vampires from her summoning ritual, "be gone from my vision children of Fenris," she forbids werewolves to answer her summons, "get you from my presence children of Arcadia," she even goes as far to count out the Fae, "Come to me, the mightiest three, the creatures of biblical wrath, the true accursed, the children of Lilith."

It was like a pop, at first there was nothing in response to her casting then they are there. Leviathan, Behemoth and Simurgh, not the petty summons and monsters that crop up on occasion in fantasy games but the old testament beasts, things that can only be called the wrath of god descended upon the earth, back in the early days of religion, when there was less 'converting to the true way' and more 'castrating the heathens'. I am having trouble breathing in their presence, several others are actually on their hands and knees gasping in the viewing room. We are only exposed to them via an illusion! I cannot imagine the pressure Chibi must be feeling, not only directly in their presence but as the object of their wrath as well.

It doesn't last long after that point. It isn't as though these are mere summon spirits or espers, Leviathan _is_ the sea, Behemoth _is_ the earth and Simurgh _is_ the sky. Facing the three realms of the physical world it is only a second before Chibi is transmuted into a smear of blood thinly applied to the landscape.

**

* * *

DoE lives! **

**that's right children, after five days with zero internets due to celebrations marking the anniversary of the dreaded lord bunny of easteria i have returned! i bring gifts of ... character death!**

**holy shit i am angry at the new ffnet story format thing! my fancy scroll scene change thing is no more!!**

**... moving on ... actually no. lets just stop there**


	30. We're in this together

**We're in this together**

* * *

It has been almost an hour since Mythos had died and I was sitting in the backstage area having a post match drink thinking about what I should do

It has been almost an hour since Mythos had died and I was sitting in the backstage area having a post match drink thinking about what I should do. Should I bring Mythos back from the dead, that would mean I'd have my partner back but it will leave me feeling weak and knowing my luck that would be the time the Exorcist choose to attack, or I could leave him dead, but by doing that it would mean that I was a partner down. While I was thinking about that Soul came and sat down opposite me. "General!" He said nodding at me.

"It's not general anymore soldier, the war is over it is just Reaper now, well at the moment it is Sanders."

"Sorry sir." He said looking at me. "So what is bothering you?"

"I want to revive Mythos but I don't want to leave myself weakened just in case you know."

"I see, if you want I can revive him for you, I'm sure Switch will as well if you ask him."

"Thanks but I will need both of you at your best as well."

"So what are you going to do just leave him dead?"

"What choice do I have? I'll have to find another partner."

"Well you could do that or you could summon him from the underworld as a servant and then once the Exorcist attack is out of the way bring him back fully then."

"Teal'c." I said using his fake name. "That is a great idea, that way I'll have someone to fight with who I trust."

"Plus if you summon him back as a servant then you will still be able to pick another partner."

"Teal'c, I believe that you are favouring me over the other competitors, isn't that a bit unfair?"

"What's your point?" He said taking a gulp of his drink to hide the amusement on his face.

"I think I will wait until the round is over and see if there is anyone who wants to fight along side me."

"You know if you let it be known who you are most of them will ditch their partners to fight with you."

"Bye Teal'c." I said ignoring his comment.

I got up and walked out of the room and towards the morgue. On the way to the morgue I had to pass through the lobby, luckily the second fight was going on right now so it was practically empty. All that was there were the food vendors and the memorabilia stalls. Each fighter seemed to have their own stall full of flags, t-shirts, badges, you name it and they had it. I walked past the stall with all the whisperer stuff on and I noticed that the stall only had a few things left on it. I walked past it and went down another corridor. There was a guard halfway down it and he gave me a nod when I walked past. I counted the doors to make sure I got the right one.

* * *

I stood in front of the seventh door for a couple of seconds before opening it. It felt like I was stepping into a freezer. The room was very plain. Grey walls, concrete floor, and two tables. Along one wall was a load of freezers. I walked over to them and looked for the one with Mythos' name on it. Once I found his freezer box I opened it and took him out. I carried him over to one of the tables and laid him down.

I went and sat on the other table and crossed my legs. I began to meditate and a black aura appeared around me. A wind picked up in the room and blew all around me like a tornado. Images of dead people began to appear in the tornado. All of them were trying to talk to me but there were just too many voices and it just sounded like noise.

A portal opened in the floor and it looked like a black hole. Hundreds of spirits came shooting out of the portal and began to fly around the room. They were searching for an exit out of the room but I had closed the door on my way in and none of them could escape.

My aura grew in intensity and shot out black beams. The beams went into the portal and after a few seconds I felt a tug so I brought the beams back to me and when the beams came out of the portal it had wrapped around Mythos' spirit. The tornado slowed down and all of the spirits were being pulled back into the portal. The portal tried to pull Mythos back as well but my aura had a strong hold on him and he stayed where he was. Once the last spirit was back in the portal I closed it up and walked over to Mythos' body. My aura slowly lowered his spirit back into his body and once it was fully in his eyes opened and my aura disappeared.

"Where am I?" Mythos asked.

"You are in the arena morgue."

"Oh yeah, shit I died."

"Yes."

"Then why am I here, shouldn't I be in the underworld?"

"I summoned you back."

"So I'm alive again?" He asked sounding a bit happy.

I felt sorry for having to burst his bubble but it had to be done. "No, feel your chest where you heart is."

"There is no heartbeat."

"You'll also notice that you are not breathing."

"What…so I'm…still dead?"

"Yes, I brought you back the same way I would an immortal slave."

"So are you saying I am one of your servants?" He said getting angry.

"No, but you are tied to me. Which means if I die you will go back to the underworld."

"So why bring me back?"

"Because I still need your help with the tournament."

"YOU BROUGHT ME BACK SO YOU STILL HAVE A PARTNER FOR THE FUCKING TOURNAMENT. WHY BRING ME BACK LIKE THIS? WHY NOT BRING ME BACK FULLY?"

"Because I am not strong enough, but once we win the tournament I will ask the people running it to bring you back fully." I lied.

"So what until then I have to drink your blood to keep myself moving?"

"Yes, and you will need to feed right away."

He came over to me. It took him a minute but he finally stuck his teeth into my neck and drank. Once he was done he pulled his head back and I cleaned my neck. "It feels a bit weird letting a guy drink from me, it feels a little gay really." I said trying to lighten the mood he was in.

He punched me in the face and I fell to the floor. "HOW THE FUCK DO YOU THINK I FEEL?" He yelled at me. "You know what, I'll see you at tomorrow at our next fight."

After he said that he walked out of the door and away from me. I stood there for a couple of minutes giving him time to create some distance between us. He needed to get over this on his own, well he didn't really need me there, it would probably make him feel worse. I walked back to the backstage cafeteria. I picked up a paper from one of the tables and sat down in my usual seat. I put the paper down and held my hands about 8 inches above the table with my palms down. A black mist appeared under each hand. I made an apple appear under one and a can of coke appear under the other. I was able to bring stuff through from Earth to Ivalice but only small things like fruit and chocolate, I wasn't able to bring stuff like cars or people.

I took a bite out of the apple and began to read the paper. I was reading a story about how the Exorcist have stepped up their attacks on witches when Darkness, Black road and their servants sat down at the table next to mine. Darkness began talking about their fight that was due to start in a couple of hours. I took another bite out of my apple and noticed that Black road was now looking at me instead of listening to Darkness. His servant caught on that he wasn't listening and looked to see what was distracting him. When she saw me eating the apple she shook her head in amusement. This guy was starting to freak me out now. I put the paper down and turned to look at him.

"Can I help you?" I asked trying to stay civil.

"I like apples." He said sounding like a lost child.

When he said that his servant couldn't hold it in anymore and burst out laughing. I look at his servant and realised that it is Lulu.

"A lot of people do." I said barely able to hold my laughter in.

"Where did you get it?" He said while moving to the edge of his seat waiting for my reply.

"Earth."

It took him a moment to catch on and then he realised it. "So you are able to bring thing here from Earth?"

"Some things, yes."

"Could you bring me an apple through please?"

I stood up and held my hand over his table. A black mist appeared under my hand and when it cleared there was an apple there. His eyes lit up like a kid's on bonfire night (British expression but you get the jist of it). He just stared at the apple and I gave him a pat on the shoulder before walking away.

"Hey wait." I heard him call out from behind me.

I turned around to face him again and saw that he was facing me. "Thanks." He said.

I saw Darkness pick up the apple and take a bite out of it and I had to quickly walk away before I burst out laughing. As I walked out of the cafeteria I heard Black road yell "WHO TOOK A BITE OUT OF MY APPLE?"

I burst out laughing and walked towards the viewing room to watch the fight that was going on at the moment. When I reached my seat I still had a smile on my face silently still laughing at Black road. The fight looked like it had been going on for some time. By now I knew the name of all the fighters and I could put the names to faces. At the moment it was the third match of the day, so who ever won this match I would be fighting against. The match consisted of Bloods rainfire, Fate, Overkill and Darkness of the abyss (Blaze, anzMAN, ESN, and Majinken). The commentators were back on their feet after the little accident but I wasn't really listening to them.

Rainfire and Fate chose to fight on a platform surrounded by lava whilst Overkill and Abyss decided that it would be one on one fights with the winner being the one to kill, KO or make the other one quit.

The judge decided that the first fight would be between Fate and Abyss. Rainfire and Overkill left the arena until it was their turn. Fate and her servant Sephiroth stood on one side and Abyss stood on the other side with his servant Tifa. Fate, Sephiroth and Abyss all drew their swords and I couldn't help but think that Tifa was in for a rough ride. A loud horn blew signalling the start of the fight. Abyss and Tifa wasted no time and went straight after Sephiroth. I guess they saw him as more of a threat then Fate. Sephiroth and Abyss clashed swords and while they were trading blows Fate ran over to Abyss and was about to slice him in the back when Tifa saw her and sent a lighting spell right into her side.

Tifa got up and jumped into the air before kicking the sword out of Fate's hand. Tifa began to punch and kick away at Fate. Fate tried to block the attack as well as fight back but she was having no luck. Tifa finished the assault with a summersault kick and Fate landed right on the edge of the platform. Tifa then grabbed her by the shoulders and pushed her head into the lava. Fate managed to push Tifa off of her and get her head back up. Her head was only in the lava for two seconds but it was enough time to turn her face from something pretty into something ESN would make in his lab.

Sephiroth seeing the damage done to his master knocked Abyss away and launched himself at Tifa. Tifa didn't see him coming since she was busy trying to deal with Fate so Sephiroth easily cut her head off before she was able to defend herself. Sephiroth looked down at Fate before turning around and dealing with Abyss. Sephiroth shot off three beams of energy, which circled Abyss before hitting each other a few feet above his head. When the beams connected they expanded outwards and created a portal. Skeletal hand appeared out of the portal and began to grab Abyss. Abyss tried to fight them off but he was having difficulty doing it with just his sword.

A dark aura appeared around Abyss and when ever one of the hands went to touch him it got burnt. He shot the aura up into the portal causing it to implode in on itself. Abyss looked toward Sephiroth and a black shadow appeared under him. Out of the Shadow came loads of blood orcs. They began to chew at Sephiroth as he unsuccessfully tried to hack them away. Abyss took his chance and ran towards Fate. Fate still had a lot of burns on her face, which made it difficult for her to see. She didn't see the attack until the last second and all she could do to defend herself was to drop to the floor. As she did that Abyss couldn't stop because he was running to fast and he tripped over her body and landed in the Lava.

The blood orcs disappeared and the horn blew signalled the end of that part of the fight. The arena turned back to normal and Sephiroth walked off leaving his master on the floor in pain. A medic ran over to her and begun casting healing spells. After a while the spells kicked in and the pain was gone but the disfigurement stayed. She managed to walk out of the arena and Rainfire and Overkill walked out. Overkill's servant was nowhere to be seen but Rainsfire's was standing next to him. His servant is Rikku from X-2 but her cloths are black.

The arena turned back into the lava platform. The horn blew and the fight began. Rainfire drew his sword but before he was able to do anything with it metal arms came shooting out of the lava. They grabbed hold of Rikku and dragged her under. They tried to grab Rainfire but he was too quick and he jumped out of the way before slicing right through them with his sword. He landed and threw his sword up into the air. It broke away into ten different swords and they all flew down towards Overkill. Light began to flicker off of Overkill like his whole body was surrounded by water. The swords hit him and carried on hitting him, then backing off and then hitting him again. Water began to come out of his body and expand outwards creating a shield around him.

The swords tried to penetrate the shield but failed to do so. Water started to gush out of the shield and push Rainfire towards the lava. Rainfire couldn't stop the water and fell into the lava. His swords disappeared and Overkill lowered his shield. The judge was about to blow the horn when a fireball flew out of the lava and hit Overkill square in the chest. He went flying up into the air and Rainfire phased in above him and used his sword as a baseball bat and knocked Overkill back down onto the platform. The platform split into four quarter pieces and Overkill barely scrambled to the side to avoid falling in. Rainfire landed and shot a ball of fire into the air. Nothing happened for a second and then four lumps of rock parted the clouds and came plummeting down towards the ground. Overkill jumped up as the meteors hit the four portions of the platform breaking them off into several dozen small pieces.

Overkill landed and realised that he had very little room to move and he had to jump from platform to platform. Only a few of the platforms were now strong enough to hold his weight. Rainfire was able to stand on the lava where Overkill wasn't. By destroying the platform he took away Overkill's ability to move lus giving him a major advantage. Overkill shot off a few waves of darkness but Rainfire just held up his sword and it cut through the waves with ease.

Rainfire slammed his sword onto the ground causing a wave of red energy to come out. It hit the platform Overkill was standing on and destroyed it. Overkill was able to jump up in time but he was running out of places to stand and fast. Rainfire destroyed the other two platforms big enough for Overkill to stand on and Overkill jumped up into the air. Rainfire lowered his sword knowing that the fight was over. Just as over was about to hit the lava a giant flaming eagle came out from the fire and Overkill landed on it. The eagle flew up into the air and floated above the area. Rainfire threw fireball after fireball up at the eagle but it just knocked them away with its wings. The eagle flapped its wings and created huge gusts of wind. The wind built up into a tornado and Overkill did a few spells and filled the tornado up with ice. The tornado flew down towards Rainfire and picked him up. The ice in the tornado began to melt and flames shot out of the tornado hitting Overkill and the eagle.

The eagle absorbed the flames making him stronger but Overkill wasn't so lucky. Burn marks started to appear on his helm and it was the only thing stopping his face turning out like Fate's.

"He's so pathetic." A woman said next to me.

'How the hell did she get there without me realising?' I thought.

"Who Overkill?" I asked.

"Yeah. He could never do shit without me."

"And you are?"

"I'm Fujin, Overkill's servant." She spat the last bit.

"Why ain't you helping him?"

"You're one to talk, I haven't even seen your servant yet and he is not worthy enough to fight along side me."

I turned back to the screen to find that the eagle had disappeared and Overkill had a pair of blood wings keeping him in the sky. Overkill curled up into a ball and a barrier of lighting appeared around him. He uncurled himself and the lighting spread out in all direction. There was a large hissing sound and sparks were flying everywhere. The whole area began to flicker and the lava disappeared and the arena returned. Everyone looked around a bit confused and I turned to Fujin. "The amount of electricity coming off of that attack must've interfered with the illusionary magics." I said a bit smugly.

I turned to face her and noticed that she had gone. I looked around the room and saw no one but I could feel a presence. I shrugged it off and looked back at the screen.

Overkill was now on the ground and running toward Rainfire. Rainfire raised his sword and tried to attack Overkill but he just blocked it with his arms. I looked more closely at his arms and saw that they were made out of metal; in fact almost all of his body was now covered in metal. He began to punch away at Rainfire sending him flying a good few feet with each hit. Rainfire continued to try and attack with his sword but it was no use. He created a fireball in his hand and when Overkill was close enough he slammed it into his chest. Overkill stepped back and began to heat up. Steam was starting to come off of his body and his chest turned a bright red colour. He tried to cool himself down but the metal body was keeping in the heat and heating him up like an oven.

He made the metal body armour disappear and where ever he had the armour he now had burn marks. Before he could do anything else Rainfire was in front of him and he slashed him across his chest creating a large gash almost as long as his torso. The blood came gushing out of him like he was in an anime. He didn't try to stop it and he let it all leave his body. Once he was drained of his blood his body was as pale as his helm. Most people would be dead by now but Overkill was just standing there. He wasn't able to move or fight but he was still alive. The blood began to gather at his feet. The blood climbed up his body and when it had covered him he ran forward and shoved his hand into Rainfire's face.

The blood hand shot down Rainfire's throat choking him. He tried to slash the blood with his sword but the blood connected back together straight away. Rainfire gathered his own blood in his throat and began to push Overkills blood back out. Once Overkills blood had left his throat Rainfire spat out his own blood into a mist. As he did that the arena changed back to the lava and platform. The platform was fully fixed so Rainfire jumped up into the air and created a huge ball of fire. The lava was floating up and going into the ball as well and Rainfire shot it down towards Overkill.

The blood flew off in all directions allowing the fireball to pass by him. The fire ball hit the platform and the platform sunk into the lava. The blood joined back together and fell towards the ground and because there was no platform it fell into the lava. Rainfire landed and the horn blew signalling the end of the fight.

**

* * *

**

**A/N: Well there you have it the fight between ESN, Blaze, anzman14, and majinken. I know that ending was shit but I wanted to play legends of rock, I'll make it up in my next fight.**

**Sorry it took so long people but my server was down for a bit and then once it was fixed I got Guitar hero 3 for the Wii and I have barely come off it.**

**Ether's chapter next and it is her first fight of the tournament.**


	31. Violence fetish

**Violence fetish**

* * *

Road and I are each eating a meal in the cafeteria while trying to decide on a strategy to face our coming enemies. At first it seemed we were in fortune as seven claimed to have encountered both of them while she was in the service of some group called burial agency before her transfer to HOLY MOTHER and her information regarding the one known as Tohno Shiki was quite accurate, regarding the other – the shinso called 'Arcueid' – her information was either completely incoherent or we are totally screwed.

A fork full of some sort of pasta, made of the odd tasting grain native to Ivalice, in a creamy sauce hovers half way to my mouth as I think. Seven tells me that she served the burial agency for five generations before they ever had an agent strong enough to support her physical form's materialisation. That agent was a true immortal, she revived independently of her own will no matter how many times she was killed and was doomed to continue to do so until she could kill a certain being, seven didn't go into the full details but apparently it was this Shiki guy who actually struck the blow that freed her former master from her curse. Following that no one in burial agency was able to manifest her powers and she was traded to HOLY MOTHER for a large stock of weapons that were simple enough for the remaining operatives to wield.

But this Tohno-kun, as she insisted upon calling him, seems to have been closer to death than almost anyone in the land of the living and the view that close up changed his eyes forever. Apparently the boy possesses something called 'Chokushi no magan' or the demon eyes of direct death which allow him to see where all things are connected to death. Seven isn't too clear about how this connection looks but she says that theorists hypothesise that the whole physical world is covered with the lines connecting each object to it's death as well as several large dark points where the actual connection takes place.

Apparently by cutting the lines the boy can cause an object or person to be cut cleanly into several pieces with next to no effort and only one strike, by striking at the points he causes beings to simply stop being alive. I don't quite get true nature of this threat but seven described him as though he could bring death to someone's immortal soul and 'kill' their cycle of reincarnation. She also mentioned that as his understanding of death grows he becomes able to see new things and more clearly, initially he could not comprehend the idea of the death of an object but apparently as he came to understand his powers the idea of the death of an object became a concrete fact for him and he gained the ability to see the points connecting an object to it's death. She also mentioned that she expects that in the four years since they last met he has probably come to understand the death of many other phenomena, even having him 'kill' my spells isn't out of the question.

Seven tells me that fighting using this technique relies on accuracy and I figure that all whoever fights him needs to do is bee too fast for him to strike accurately enough. Of course, given that that is his weakness he doubtless knows about it too and has worked on many ways to counter it, but that can be adjusted for during battle.

The real worry is the other one. Seven seems to outright fear the so called 'white princess', at first I thought that had something to do with the fact that she was the first person ever to kill Seven's prior master, the fact she revived for the first time shortly after tells me she didn't do a great job though. What really bothers me is something Seven told me that apparently can only be truly understood by her partner and his death eyes, seven tells me that during the night Arcueid Brunstud _has no point at which she is connected to death_. From what I can gather at night it isn't even necessary for her to regenerate when killed because her body doesn't hold the possibility of dying.

As I say it isn't something I can simply wrap my head around without properly understanding what it means to be connected to death and by extension what it means that she is not.

How does one defeat an enemy like that? Even if I wanted to defeat an enemy without killing them I would probably put my gun to their head and tell them that if they don't surrender I'll shoot. But there is no way of holding a death threat against someone you cant kill, someone to whom the possibility of death is completely foreign, not just as a concept but the actual possibility of dying.

"Are you gonna eat that?"

"Wha? YES!" I look at Road, he's staring hungrily at my fork and his plate of what had once been something resembling beef and black bean, at least as close as it ever got on Ivalice, now contains only a few sauce stains and half a dozen apple seeds. He even ate the core ... yeah I miss the old world too but eating the apple core ... actually a few of my friends did that anyway back home ... "What's the matter Road? Your apple not as satisfying as you hoped?"

"Yeah well it would have been, _but someone ate half of it," _geez, if I'd known he'd be this irritable about it I would have left the damn thing alone.

"Oh for schlit's sake," I grab a paper bag from the middle of our table, scribble _bacon carbonara_ across the front, drop in a few coins and throw it at some sort of trained monkey creature at the counter, "there, now will you please focus on what we're gonna do about strategy in the coming match?"

"Fine, head's or tails?" Road states flicking a coin in the air and slapping his palm over it as it hits the table.

"Wha? Heads?"

"Tails," Road flips up his hand to reveal the twin dragons of the tails side of an Arcadian five gil piece, "You fight the human and his pet demon, I get to fight the high and mighty ancestor. So you worry about the strategy for him and I'll the strategy for her, now finish your meal.

As a swarthy Nu Mou came out with Road's plate and laid it in front of him and flicks me my change I am struggling not to lash out and slap him down for being so complacent in the face of a strong enemy.

"Did you practice fusion last night?"

I go sullen, just what I need – the bastard who has mastered all the blood spells making fun of me for not being able to pull of one of them. Still I have to be polite about it, after all I have been teaching him simple time-space spells in exchange for him teaching me the last few blood spells I haven't bothered to learn properly, "Yeah ..."

"Did it work?"

"No..."

"Good."

"Good?"

"Yep," he nods happily and continues while slurping down his pasta ... I'm going to kill him soon I swear, "I caft a fpell 'oo make iff fo 'oo ..." he finally swallows his mouthful, "would instantly succeed if it was possible for you to use the spell under those conditions."

"... and it's a good thing that it isn't possible for me to cast the fusion spell?"

"_Under those conditions._ Yes, I've tested you to see which learning type you fit into and the only one you haven't failed is the 'learn it when you really need it' group. Since you are still under the effect of the spell if you don't need to use fusion you can just kick the guy's arse and if you do the spell will make sure you get the casting right on the first go," the git looks so happy with himself I feel like hitting him. _Damn smartass._

Still knowing that I can feel a little more secure, if I need fusion all I really need to do is remember my other lessons to optimise the power I can get out of it. Road claims that you actually pick the form of your fusion the first time and from then on you always return to the same form. The most important thing about the form you take is how much power you the caster think it has, a lot of necromancers these days don't realise that and take fusion forms similar to others when those forms are not truly powerful in the caster's own mind, as a result both the fusion form's initial power and potential to grow are severely handicapped. So the most important thing when I perform my first successful fusion is to have an image in my mind that I personally consider to be the very earthly form of power, if I can find a form that I truly feel excels far beyond any other then I shall find power and potential for growth in buckets, of course the form I select will influence the _nature_ of the power I gain and the personality I possess when transformed.

* * *

"Team Shinso – location or rules?" I have a bad feeling as I her the judge ask the enemy team for their preference, they won the toss so of course it is their right. I just feel ill at ease knowing that they now have the best chance to secure advantages. As Shiki grins and glances to his left and nods my mind is already racing to think up some way to at least mitigate whatever advantage they claim from this.

"Location," to my enemy's left his vampire partner speaks up before nodding to him, clearly they have planned this out in advance, apparently they are the same type as me, the type to claim any advantage they can lay their hands on.

"The northern polar ice cap." _Damn,_ I curse to myself as Shiki speaks. A very good choice, right now it is winter in the northern hemisphere so it will be night there for six months at a time – even if we were the type to try and wait out the night until daylight makes Arcueid's death possible (assuming that they somehow realised that we know about her being un-killable at night at all) it is no longer a possibility given just how long we'd have to hide away for.

At least I am me. The second advantage is what they are most likely truly counting on – Jagd. In the whole world only Jagd Naldoa, home of the sun cryst and the Ridorana cataract, is stronger than the distorting and mists of the polar ice caps. They will be bitterly disappointed when Road and I aren't crippled by normal summoning problems in this battle. Then I begin to smile – of course! I think I have a way to strip the night advantage from them as well.

"Rules," the adjudicator turns to me and my smile puts both enemies a little on edge.

"Straight battle to the dea... _umph!_" I nearly have a heart attack when Road almost give up our chance for advantage without thinking, fortunately Lulu slams an elbow into his ribs before he can get it all out.

"Jailbreak," the judge raises an eyebrow, "Team Shinso is guarding and we are attacking. If they can keep us inside the sun keep at the north pole for thirty minutes they win, if one of us manages to exit the sun keep we win."

"Agreed," the judge smiles admiringly at my strategy.

"Wait! Those rules specify a location as well! The location is ours to choose!"

"The location mentioned in the rules is within the boundaries you have agreed upon and give no unfairly earned advantage to the enemy, according to the rules you must accept them," the judge states simply. Frankly if he judged the permanent sunlight of the keep to be an unfair advantage to us (well more unfair than it should be given that it was our chance to name the rules) he should have given the other team the option of refusing us. But it looks like I impressed him enough with the choice he's going to let it slide, "begin spatial simulation."

The arena fades and the space time manipulations that create the false image of the sun keep we are to fight in begin their operation. We stand on a patch of green grass at the bottom of a large stone basin in the middle of a huge expanse of cave. Despite it apparently being night outside the keep is indeed, as legend states, filled with the light of the sun at all times, it should be possible to kill the famed white princess in this place.

The judge places his finger to his forehead for a moment as he sends or receives telepathic communications, after a moment his face goes a little dark, "Darkness in light, the event organisers have raised a protest about your abilities and how they match up with this event. Taking into account your ability to perform time-space magic within Jagd the rules are now adjusted to state that any competitor teleporting greater than four metres shall face disqualification."

I'm stunned, I hadn't even thought of that. Without that rule I could have just teleported clear of the keep and won instantly. But this whole time I wasn't thinking of the fact that we could win by escaping at all, to me this whole time the rules I stated were just so that it would be possible for us to kill the vampire but now a new possibility is raging through my mind.

When we were moved into this simulated space Road and I remained together and were placed at the furthest point to the exits of the structure. Shiki and Arcueid however were separated, Shiki stands at the top of one of the longest flights of stone steps I have ever seen whereas Arcueid stands atop the altar to the sun at the centre of the grassed area. Clearly Shiki has been positioned to block the floor level exit to the keep while Arc is positioned to prevent us from flying toward the hole in the ceiling of the keep.

Suddenly the referee is simply gone and the battle is officially started. The blonde vampire holds her position and waits, although he calls a small kitten out of the shadows her team mate is likewise completely still. Of course it is only to their advantage each second the fight is put off since they win by default if we are still in here after thirty minutes. I lean back to whisper to Road as I gently slash his forearm with a small dagger.

"You should have no trouble summoning in Jagd for a while now, do your best to keep her off me. I'll kill the human quick and then the two of us should be able to handle her," Road's posture shifts a little and I suddenly realise that he isn't angry at me anymore. The revelation comes as a shock since I hadn't realised that he was angry at me in the first place. But what for? Did I make him mad because he thought I was trying to get out of the fight?

No time to think or ask he mutters, "Eleven, wings of death," and flaps off, toward the ceiling. As his white clothed enemy summons chains stretching from wall to wall to block his path I turn to face my own enemy.

Shiki has taken his glasses off and drawn a short knife, more a folding fruit knife than an actual weapon. Silently the tiny kitten he called up from his shadow peers at me from behind his ankle, the hugely oversized bow around its neck is almost chokingly cute and its huge innocent eyes seem so out of place right now.

I steel myself and begin with a shundo, the ground between us is covered in what appears to be an instant but is actually only an infinitesimally small moment of time. Because shundo requires that I move through the intervening space it is not a teleportation skill but a fast movement technique so I should avoid disqualification here.

When I flicker back down to a speed his eyes can follow me at I'm inches from his face and Seven has already transmuted herself into her armour state covering me once more as a flowing nun's robe with no habit and it is her who uses the rokushiki form, shigan when I face the boy with blue hair. Somehow he dodges and then launches a flurry of knife strikes at my face.

For several seconds he and I are frozen in place in a flowing tableaux as both of us remain standing in exactly the same place while at the same time his arm blurs in a focussed attempt to throw at least one blow I cant dodge and my upper body flickers with the liquid evasion of Seven's kamie. Then the spell is broken as one of his blows slips too far down for me to dodge without taking a leg off the ground, since Seven is not able to influence my leg movements in her current form I am forced to teleport back a few steps, being careful to only go three metres so that I'm not out of the competition of course, and assume a guard stance.

Right at the top of the room Arc and Road have already reached the stage where their blows are shaking the whole hollow mountain that holds the sun keep, flickering through the air, Road using both his wings and the geppou form to maximise his speed and the vampire somehow able to match him while apparently running on air.

Shiki takes in my armoured state for the first time and an odd recognition shows in his eyes, for the first time I consider that the style of Seven's armour might be the same for everyone she uses it for. Before I can think about it any further Shiki confirms it for me, "What is Burial Agency doing sending agents to Ivalice? Arcueid and I were promised safe conduct once the dead apostle Roa was destroyed as long as we left Earth,"

I smile at his mistake, I should be confused but Seven has told me enough of her history to understand the mistaken conclusion he has jumped to, "You misunderstand. Seven is on Ivalice because the burial agency traded her to HOLY MOTHER. Seven serves me because I killed the exorcist who held her and took her soul," I flash him a glimpse of the amulet that holds Seven's free will and as predicted his previous relation to Seven's master causes him to draw up in rage slightly.

It is just what I wanted and rather than let his rage become his power I launch an attack of my own during the instant it blinds him and before he can take control of it. With a flick of my wrists I send a huge wave of throwing knives and swords, all packed with holy energy since they were created by Seven, streaming toward him. Then my bloody left hand turns into a pair of pistols and I fill the air with bullets that should reach their target at about the same time the slower thrown weapons do. Finally shundo once more places me at his side before my weapons.

As he dodges to his right I flicker back down to visible speed and land a heavy booted kick to his chest which drives him stumbling back into the line of fire. Startled he turns to face the oncoming death rain and I leap on the chance. I lock his left hand behind him in a standard police hammerlock and grip his right just bellow the wrist while twisting to force him to drop the dagger. Now I'm the one standing in just the right place to face a rain of bullets so I twist him about to shield myself.

There is a tinkling of a small bell and the kitten at his feet is no longer a kitten. A white haired girl of about six years age stands in its place. Her tiny raised hand seems to be gesturing for the bullets and blades to stop and, indeed, they do glance of what looks like a transparent shield inches from her face. But I planned for this too.

With almost no noise at all Irvine's silenced rifle tears through flesh and bone. What had been previously a small girl in the frilly black dress of a goth loli is now being flung to the side, her previously adorable face ripped, torn and in places shattered by the tremendous force of a modern sniper rifle. As she sails to the side and lets the last few projectiles past I can eve see shards of bone being blown clear of the deflated remains of her skull.

I risk giving his position away to send my thanks to Irvine with a glance.

That costs me dearly as something sharp enters my right arm, apparently growing from Shiki's own trapped arm, and my arm frees itself from my body. Falling to pieces as it drifts through the air away from me.

Suddenly I'm not the one in control anymore, Shiki has escaped my grasp and the last three daggers that had not yet struck his familiar's barrier burry deeply into my chest, their holy power blackens my skin and turns parts of me to dust. But the time I finish falling the weapons have used up their power and faded and I have three blackened holes where most of my chest should be.

"REN!"

My enemy ignores me, clearly I am going to die here and he is more worried about his familiar's status than watching over my final moments. But I had Irvine enchant his bullet with spirit destroying magic, even the strongest healer in the world couldn't do more for her than turn her mangled corpse into a less mangled corpse, I feel bitter pride knowing that no matter what he does his former spirit partner will never ever be more than a body without a soul from now on.

I turn me head to share one last loving glance with my own partner and I nearly weep as I see his body decaying, clearly I am mortally wounded if my servant is being unsummoned. I don't want to die. I want to live.

There is a lot I want to do. There are people I want to find, places I want to see. My powers begin groping for some means of survival. My blood writhes around, seeking someone it can clutch as my new life. My spirit lashes out trying to locate a life that it can take to replace mine. Even my pathetically weak summoning powers try desperately to conjure new life for me. Finally my frantic search latches on to something.

A voice sounds in my mind. Something I saw when I was just a girl in a normal house on a normal Earth. A normal girl who read books on vampires because she liked them instead of because she needed to know about them I case she had to fight one.

_Those who don't give up, no matter what happens to them, earn the right to live, no matter what happens to them._

The thing I have found is Road's spell. The words fill my mind with images of the one who spoke them. I don't even need to follow Road's instructions about imagining myself as the strongest self I can be. It's already there, in the front and centre of my mind it's there. Easily the strongest being I can imagine, so strong that if I were to imagine a combination of it and the next strongest being I can think of the result would be much weaker than the original.

My dying body suddenly explodes, liquefies, and my blood begins to run down the stairs back to the grassed area I started the battle in. Above me on a rock outcrop Irvine's body explodes as well.

For several moments I wait for my fusion form to exist. When Irvine's soul joins mine and we become one joyous spirit being waiting only for physical form to allow us to burst onto the field of battle I fully expect just such a body to form.

But it doesn't. We float disembodied, a single lost soul made of two, in the sun keep and there is no body for us.

As I begin to despair it comes to me – there is only one body for us to use.

With a shattering screech the great pools of blood that were once my and Irvine's bodies become buzzing swarms of locusts and form a great mass about me. Then I am bodiless no more as the swarming insects all run together and begin to flow like a liquid into the body I have chosen for my fusion form.

"That was an interesting technique boy," my voice is deeper now, it cant be helped since the form I consider to be beyond the power of any other is at least superficially male, "Seven didn't tell me you could sprout claws from your arms."

His body shakes as he faces me, his insight into death clearly tells him that he can never revive his familiar and he rages at her loss. He is deathly calm when he finally responds, "I couldn't do that when I knew Seven's mistress. When I first killed an enemy vampire I was badly wounded and I would have died. A large number of its familiars were implanted within me to regenerate my destroyed organs, it's been four years since we left Earth – plenty of time to learn how to call upon that power as well."

With him having said that, hundreds of crows burst into existence from his arm and spring from the suddenly liquid flesh of his abdomen. They come at me in a great mob and the force of my fusion form's personality overwhelms my normal state of mind. I begin to laugh as they tear strips of my flesh from my bones, my hands pluck them from the sky and crush them, each turns onto a kind of black sludge upon it's death which fades and replaces my target's lost body mass.

Apparently one of them broke off and retrieved the dropped knife because suddenly Shiki is there and he drives the blade into my chest and rips sideways. Suddenly my body is in more than a dozen pieces and they fall to the ground.

The crows return to his body and Shiki looks down upon me with death and grim satisfaction in his eyes, "It seems I was lax in thinking that you would be unable to recover from holy attacks. Rest assured – your reliance on this extreme regeneration ability has gotten you killed. Once I have 'killed' something no amount of healing can return life to it, rather like what you did to Ren."

He takes a step backward in horror as my blood turns to solid shadow and pulls my devastated corpse back into a single whole. Once more the consciousness of my fusion form speaks, overruling my control of the body, "Blood is the gold of the soul, the silver of the will. Your shinso friend may revive by healing her body until life returns to it – that would certainly explain why she cant regain the life destroyed by your assaults – but I replace the life that is lost with life I have taken from elsewhere, the body typically heals of it's own accord. I am buoyed by the life of a hundred thousand dead, a few cuts wont destroy me."

Face curled in rage Shiki sucks up his familiars and takes an odd stance. Eventually, while my own mind screams to kill him and stop fooling around and is ignored by the mind dominating my fusion form, his half lidded eyes find what he wants and he strikes out. The space around me fractures and nothingness comes flooding in at me. My mind shrinks away from the empty terror for a second before the mind of my form takes command and suddenly my view is different.

I am still surrounded by blackness, but I am not surrounded by nothing any more. In a sort of hole in space in front of me I can see Shiki from behind, he is panting, he mutters to himself, "The ability to perceive and bring about the death of an area of space," I see, that is why his ultimate strike is so terrifying.

For several moments I wonder why his form is so two dimensional but then it comes to me – I am looking at him from inside a shadow. As the thought occurs to me an arm – clothed in the sleeve of a red suit jacket with three cufflinks above the wrist and gloved in white silk – seems to raise from the shadows that I am hidden within, it takes me nearly no time to realise that the arm is mine. It clutches a huge pistol, as long of barrel as my arm and constructed of steel as black as night, it barks once and immediately the recoil I feel is so much that I am absolutely certain that I could not use it without this fusion body.

With its thundering roar the black pistol rips through first one leg and then another. With a thump that is almost pitiful my enemy falls to the ground, a huge pool of blood leaks from the severed limbs. The young man is almost crying terror as he throws his dagger at me.

With contempt I bat it aside, "Come boy!" the speech is once again the new personality unique to my fusion form, "You and I are better than such petty struggling. Call out your demons, regenerate your legs. There are still twenty eight minutes left until I have to leave this place. Do _something!"_

True tears are now being shed by my enemy, and as he tries to retreat he sobs, "M-monster," again and again. A terrified litany as he flees.

Something that I can only think of as true disappointment comes from the persona of my fusion form, "I see ..."

Left hand gesturing I summon a two dimensional flow of a liquid shadow filled with a million staring eyes. As it reaches him a shape bursts from its depths, the great black hound 'Baskervilles'. The screaming as the hound crushes his bones is meaningless to me and I feel nothing at his death. When the hound returns to me and rejoins my body however I feel one more life added to my stock, perhaps not worth the four he ripped form me, but then perhaps he is, I shall have to test someday to discover if his eyes have become mine. And it wont be hard to find a few weak lives to replace the weak ones I used up, every town has guards and soldiers. Perhaps I had best teach the spells to refuel my fusion form to my unfused self...

* * *

It takes me several minutes to locate the amulet that holds seven's spirit lying on the ground. When I finally do I ask the wandering soul what happened to my ally.

Seven reveals that at about the same time Irvine destroyed the succubus familiar the Shinso Arcueid dragged Road into something called a reality marble. A reality marble is a sort of mini dimension that bows completely to the user's will so it looks like Road could be having a tough time in there.

My worries turn out to be unfounded when, after almost ten minutes of trying to force my way into the reality marble called 'the millennium castle Brunstud' a huge black shape comes crashing into the sun keep. Like some fierce beast the brute seems to be tearing flesh and bone as it rends the space in front of it, somehow seeming to make reality itself bleed form the injuries it inflicts as it tears it's way back into the reality our batch is taking place in.

I go on guard and prepare to face this new threat for a moment. Then I relax when I see, clutched in its left hand, the shattered and limp form of the, now former, white princess of the true ancestors. The gargantuan beast meets my eyes, then the strangest thing happens. It winks. It seems clear to me now that this has to be Road's own fusion form.

Nodding understanding we begin to walk victoriously toward the exit.

* * *

I quiver with tiredness as I sit upon my bed. Following the first round of the tournament I am exhausted, first there was the match itself, then we had a huge party for those who won, then I had to sit up until now, four am, while my fusion mind taught me the spell that would allow me to steal souls to refuel its stock of lives.

Apparently even my fusion is unusual, according to Road most fusions don't have a mind of their own. The fact that my fusion state does gives me my own advantages and problems. On one hand there is a mind I can get in contact with which can tell me everything there is to know about my fused state and how best to fight in it. On the other hand until I can crush that mind I will never be the one controlling my actions while I am fused.

As to what I know about my fusion right now? Not much. It doesn't possess anywhere near the hundreds of thousands of human lives it claimed during my fight with Shiki, in fact it only holds about ten right now. It can use up one of those lives to completely rebuild a new body, even overcoming wounds that should prevent healing. If I cast my soul eating spell over the body of someone I've killed I can add one additional life to the count for each soul I take. If my fused self eats someone the way it consumed Shiki, not only is it's life added to the collection but the fused form gains the ability to manifest it's powers at the cost of one more life. That's really all I know.

That and it isn't possible for my fusion form to heal damage I've received to my unfused body. Even now my right arm is gone above the elbow, as far as I can tell – and as far as the absorbed memories of Tohno Shiki know – I will never be able to heal that arm. Just fantastic. I have a missing hand that I cannot regenerate for a year and a day and a whole arm I will never be able to use again.

I sigh and stare at my palms, forming my arms out of the blood running from my wounds is second nature now, Seven even reports that I can keep them intact while I sleep. Still it bothers me, in the last month I've lost both my arms in ways that prevent healing them. At this rate I'll be a floating blob of blood before Christmas.

Sensing my thoughts Irvine gifts me with a gentle kiss on my cheek, a calm reassurance that everything will be fine. Once again, for the millionth time, my heart fills and I begin to lose myself in my lover.

Then a knock comes from our door. I groan as I can already tell that this isn't the sort of person who will just go away if I give them the silent treatment for a while. Lips still pressed together Irvine is smiling mockingly as I finally give up and head to the door.

"What?" I am perhaps a little short tempered by the time I actually come to answering the visitor.

On the other side of the door I am stunned to see a creature I have never seen before, a cat girl at least a foot shorter than me. she is naked as the days she was born and, although rich emerald green fur covers her hands and feet as well as her most private areas, there is more than enough skin showing to be seen as an invitation by most of the men I have met. When she speaks her voice is surprisingly human as is her face.

"You are Ann Goldsmith, the oracle of death are you not?"

"Err..." I'm taken aback by her abrupt question and left a little off balance when I answer, "you have the name right. But I don't know about any oracle,"

"I see. It seems I have caught you at a bad time. Forgive my rudeness," so saying she closes my door.

I shake off my stupor and rip the door back open before she manages to close it fully, yet somehow she is completely gone, as thought she were never there. As I return to Irvine's warm embrace I ponder this new and confusing thing to add to my ever growing list of new and confusing things.

**

* * *

End be desu!**

**Omg everyone needs to go to icanhascheezburger. Com**

**For the good of justice**

**omg i think ffnet are letting me put my scroll-y things back in!**

**Fukutai - Ether, out**


	32. I’m coming over to your country to fuck

Warning: this chapter contains yuri and ... frankly I make no apology, either for the yuri itself or my poor talent for such writing.

**

* * *

I'm coming over to your country to fuck your women**

* * *

"I saw a cop beat a priest on the TV

And they know they killed our heroes too..."

"What the hell are you singing?" Road seems vaguely irritated. Of course who wouldn't be with me singing snatches of random music under my breath for the past hour or more.

"The death song," I state my answer like it is the most obvious thing in the world and he should be looked down upon for not knowing. I've been doing this all day too, it's starting to annoy him badly, I can tell.

"Why?"

"For the good of justice?" after the fifth time through that same exchange today I'm starting to feel a little sorry for my companion so I ask, "Why are you so fixated on planning out the next battle down to the last detail? Weren't you the one who was making fun of me for wanting a strategy in the last battle?"

"Yeah well, I had a change of heart. I almost got my arse handed to me inside that freaky dimension where everything obeyed the vampire girl. If she hadn't freaked out and tried to run off and kill you when her partner died my arse would be grass right now."

"You can relax, as near as I can tell team Shinso was the strongest group in block B," I try to calm my partner down using logic, "I know for a fact that Arcuied could have easily taken Icarax and Shiki is almost the only person in existence who could possibly kill those beasts Mille called up."

"Christ, way to frigging make me feel better. 'Oh and we just happened to wipe out the only one who could have hoped to fight your opponent, now she's unstoppable! Have fun!' Yeah thanks," Road is sounding oddly despondent somehow...

"What's the matter man? And what do you mean by stating that Mille is your opponent?"

"Well it's fairly obvious that Icarax is only here to gain fame from killing famous necromancers. When we started the tournament you were by far the more famous of us, given your recent fame at the time, plus you've fought and embarrassed him once already. Not to mention that your fight yesterday was one of the highlights while mine was inside that little pocket dimension where the illusionists couldn't see me. Face it, he wants you and the fame that will come from taking your head,"

"So? It's not like we have to pair up the way he wants, he's a close range specialist and so are you. When one close combat specialist fights another with the intention of fighting purely to delay his opponent what happens?"

It's Lulu who answers, she seems to feel that the servants are being left out of the strategy meetings, "Unless the delayer is much weaker the delayed will be kept in place for a very long time, unable to end the battle quickly because of his opponent's strong defence and unable to leave the battle without leaving their back exposed to attack. Of course master is more than a match for Icarax, sword or no the rokushiki are simply too great an advantage. Especially for a tactic like this. However I must ask – why are the master and I not to simply set out and kill Icarax?"

I'm saved the need to answer by Road himself, "Of course we'll off him of he's stupid enough to turn his back on us for a chance at darkness. But the whole point of her plan is for us to kill the enemy off with the minimum risk of losing team members for the next round of the tournament. If she fought Icarax and we faced Mille she could hold him off and wait for aid just as well as we can, but there is no guarantee that we will beat Mille," Road's expression is aggressive for a moment, almost as if willing me to realise that he isn't weaker than me, just that he is admitting the strategic differences in our styles, "Mille is down a servant, Cloud's body was destroyed so it will take her three or more days to create a new one before she can call his soul back and we have only been given one days rest before the next rounds begin. Against us, who fight best up close, she can run and keep us at range – she can easily delay us just as badly as we are planning to delay Icarax. Then the whole thing is up in the air and we have as much chance of losing as winning, that's just bad tactics.

"Now if she and Irvine take on Mille it's suddenly a very different game. Without her protector a rain of bullets will completely cripple her summoning attempts, especially if a few are enchanted with banish or dispel. Plus she has SEVEN, I don't know if she's as good with the spirit as the seraphic assassin was supposed to have been but if she's anywhere near close then the sub space of the arena is literally too small for Mille to run outside her maximum range. Without her servant that battle will be over almost immediately, then it will be four of us against Icarax and his servant. She isn't a very powerful servant at all so I cant see four of us having much trouble with him, we may even be able to force him to surrender. What bothers me is – what if they win the toss and get to decide the rules? He could easily demand that the match be settled by single duels between competitors of his choosing."

I actually begin to laugh at that point, "Road, are you forgetting who I am? If they are stupid enough to let us select the battleground – or indeed if they fail to win the toss – then all we need to do is say 'Ogir yensa sand sea' or 'Tarn of Cthok' even 'the city of Cthol Mishrak' or _any_ other Jagd with good long range visibility and they are _screwed_, in Jagd Mille the summoner is all but useless and his already poor servant is even weaker. The battle will practically _start_ four on one. Even if he does decide to make it a pair of one on one battles and reserve me for himself – if you, a close combat expert, can't kill a specialist summoner in Jagd then I will literally kick you off this team and go through the rest of the tournament alone. That I will win is completely beyond question, as a close range specialist he simply wont be able to close with me in a situation where he cant use teleport spells and I can and while he may be able to defend against a shot or two, maybe even a full salvo, I will be shooting at him using SEVEN. If they don't secure the area of the battle we win practically by default."

Now that Road seems to have returned to himself enough to relax a bit on this one day break the organisers have set aside for us to recover before more battles I'm going to leave him and do my own thing for a while. There are other plans swirling around my mind, of course I realise that a clever choice of arena might neutralise all of the advantages I just laid down if we were to go in with a poor choice of rules. I also have some rather more complicated rules in mind than 'two on two until one side dies or is out cold' that should help reduce the risk of that.

But I'm not going to tell Road about them. My plans are incomplete and I never reveal a plan before it's ready. (And this was meant to be a quick filler chapter but it's rapidly turning into an in-depth planning and strat session chapter. Lets keep it light shall we?)

* * *

"... I saw a priest kill a cop on the TV

And I know that they're our heroes too..."

"Haha," Irvine is laughing at me from behind his hand, "what is it with you and that song today?"

In response I cant help but smile a little wistfully, "I'm kinda missing stuff from home, besides – this is one of the easiest songs to remember that I can think of right now. I could do Du hast but I think we've had enough of that for a while,"

My servant's smile turns slightly ironic, "You mean with the way you sang it every hour on the hour for twelve weeks _last time_ you started to feel homesick for Earth? I know you can sing others, why not go for something grand? You know I love it when you get all operatic on me,"

Irvine's face shows that he's joking but it soon fades into chagrin when he realises that I've had too many drinks for a comment like that to pass unanswered. I stand and spread my arms and begin in a clear ringing voice (or at least it seems that way to me, it might not if I were sober):

_Dorime_

_Interime adibare dorime_

_Ameno ameno latire_

_Latire oh!_

In the beginning most of the other people in the bar are booing me for such a slow song but once I reach the chorus the huge, grand and powerful feeling that any good classical piece should inspire takes over the crowd and a few other voices who know the words join me. By the end the whole bar is floating in that feeling and I'm actually laughing out loud by the time I sit back down. You almost have to be drunk to enjoy singing like ours was just now, fortunately anyone who wasn't drunk enough to enjoy it was sober enough to know better than to start a fight with the whole rest of the bar.

Eventually I calm down and start drinking water rather than vodka in hopes of avoiding a hangover tomorrow. But as I sober up I notice something on the other side of the room, a slow smile crosses my face as I come to a conclusion.

"Irvine what do you see over there?" I ask pointing.

"... A girl. She's being harassed by a pair of drunk guys." Some times my love can be disgustingly dense.

"You don't recognise her? Or are you simply not able to spot a golden opportunity when one bites you on the arse?"

"... alright. What is this 'golden opportunity' then?"

"That girl is Icarax's other servant. It rather looks like she's trying to drink away the sorrow of not being the one he picked when he found out he could only use one servant in the tournament doesn't it? I also happen to know that the reason he has two is so that they can take out their sexual frustration on one another without bothering him. The first rule of strategy _is_ 'know thy enemy' after all," so saying I stand up and begin to cast.

Once I reach my feet a huge pain ripples through me as I first make myself a foot and a half shorter then change the shape of my face, after that changing my skin tone and hair colour is almost a pleasant tingle. As I walk toward the bar I whisper to my own two servants.

"Irvine get out of here before she has a chance to recognise your face, when we leave follow us from a safe distance and make sure no one follows. SEVEN, step back your power output until you aren't visible anymore and search the area for Icarax, it's possible he ordered her to come here to try and trick information out of us. If you find him tell Irvine and you two distract him when we make our escape."

My servants disperse to do their own duties as I head to the bar, just before reaching it I complete the last of my transformations, my trade mark exorcist style melts away and becomes a long red Chinese cheongsam, slitted almost all the way above my hip and my arms, normally a bright red betrays the fact I make them out of blood ever since they were cut off, give me the most intense pain of all as I change the colour of the blood that forms them to match my skin. I order a pair of cocktails without paying too much attention to what they are and move on toward the table where little miss Ilia is being inconvenienced by a pair of drunken Romeos.

"Wow," I start with a mild, casual tone, "I've been to the toilet and the bar and you've already managed to replace me," I wink and give the young woman a look that I hope says I feel sorry for her and I've come to save her. Then I turn to the men and change my face to full hostile mode, "thanks for entertaining her while I was gone. Go away now, this one is taken and there are ever so many more in this bar."

Once the duo retreat, muttering curses at me under their breath, I slide a cocktail to Ilia, "I hope you don't mind, I just figured you needed some saving, you can call me Salmarissa."

The poor girl looks so confused, almost stunned by the sudden change in her fortunes. But she also has hints of certain other feelings in those eyes, "I'm ..."

At that moment I make a snap decision, rather than pretend not to know her I decide to try flattery, "You are Ilia, you're a follower of one of the necromancers who was powerful enough to make the second round of the king of the dead tournament. Probably as many as a third of the people in this bar know who you are. You're quite pretty," _cute would be better, but you look the type to take offence if I refer to you like a child so we'll let pretty slide,_ "and you are a bit of a celebrity after the scene Icarax pulled when you weren't allowed to enter with him. Quite a few of the guys in here would like to take you home tonight,"

I make the mistake of looking into her eyes, what I see there brings a hot flush of shame. Her face is completely trusting but if I get my way tonight she is going to wake up having betrayed every secret her master has shared with her, I can only hope that being tricked so is better than being date raped by the scum in this tavern. I steel myself and erase any trace of my duplicity from my face, "Come on, finish that and we'll see if we cant find somewhere to drink where you wont be so hunted ..."

_

* * *

Cruor est aurem animae._

Blood is the gold of the soul. With the casting of my newest spell the blood runs out of my attackers' open wounds and forms a pair of balls hovering over my palm, they jerk madly as the magic at work begins to tear away their souls into the floating orbs. Once the spell is complete I inhale deeply and the two fools who were inconveniencing Ilia earlier, and thought it a clever plan to follow us home and attack us, give one final jerk and fall to the ground as the life is pulled from them in one piece. Inside me I can feel the odd filling feeling of two more lives being absorbed to make up those I lost fighting Shiki. I adjust the drunken girl clinging to my back so that holding her is a little less straining and continue back to my hotel room.

* * *

**HAHAHAHAHAHA: Yuri lemon removed because doesnt like them. Ask me to pm you the scene if you want.**

* * *

Her face is beautiful in sleep, relaxed completely by the exhaustion we have wrought on each other she none the less wears a faint smile.

It is almost impossible for me to do so but I fight off the urge to sink into my own blissful slumber and the warmth of her body but somehow I manage it. I make a tiny cut on her earlobe and whisper my incantation.

_Cruor est argentum numinis_

Blood is the silver of the will. Rather than draw out her life as I did with those two thugs earlier I instead ingest her full memories in a single crimson drop as I gently lick the wound until it fades. Beyond that ... I can look carefully at her knowledge of her master's weaknesses tomorrow – that urge toward blissful oblivion in her arms is growing herder to resist.

**

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AN: well how do you like it? Kel – remember a while back I said I'd write a lemon just for you? This is your one man. Everyone else who benefited from that can thank kel.**

**oh and also to kel - i want you to show up more in the fic but i'm not confident in writing you fighting, that's why i had you fight arc off screen. i'm fairly sure i can write your fusion form well, i came up with some good stuff for that one on my own so dont give me ideas for that. i want you to give me some thoughts about what i should be doing about your non-fused fighting style. how should it be evolving now?**

**Guild Fukutaichou DoE out**


	33. Fairytales of New York

**Fairytales of New York**

**

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**

I was sitting down in a tavern think over Darkness' last fight. I knew she was powerful but that was something new, that was power beyond reason, a lot of people said I had the potential to be the most powerful necromancer alive. I thought they were right, but after today's show I doubt that fact. Never in my seven years as a necromancer have I ever gone and become as powerful as she did today. Could it be true that somebody had surpassed me as the most powerful Necromancer? I admit that since I've absorbed Baranna I haven't tested my limits, I could be more powerful then I was before, but still she was more then off the charts. I will have to monitor her, really analyse her next match for any hint of what is causing that power.

The bar keep came over and filled up my glass; I chucked him a few gil and began to drink. As I was drinking I saw Overkill walk in. I thought it was a bit weird since I saw him fall into the lava and die. He was at the bar so I walked over and stood next to him. He noticed me standing there but he was either too scared to say anything or didn't care, I guessed it would be the second option. His drink came and I paid for it before he could. "We need to talk." I said motioning towards an empty table.

He shrugged his shoulders and walked towards it like he had nothing better to do. I sat down opposite him. "As you might know my partner was killed in my last fight, I was able to bring him back partially and he is now classed as a servant. That means that I have a space available in my team which I need to fill. After your display against Rainfire I thought you'd be the perfect guy. Plus you could also get your revenge." I said.

He just stared at me. I was sitting there waiting for a reply when he put his drink down, got up and walked away. "Nice." I said to his back as somebody from the bar laughed.

I turned to face the bar and saw Fujin standing there laughing. She saw me looking and walked off. I continued sitting at the table thinking over my options. I could fight on my own but it would be a lot easier with a partner after all I will be going up against two people. I was so caught up in my own thoughts that I didn't notice the Overkills vacated seat had been taken by somebody else. I looked up to see Hex sitting there.

"Hi." She said.

"Hi." I replied. "Can I help you?"

"Well yes you can, you see, you are in need of a partner for the next round of the tournament and seeing as I'm the best person to fill the position out of the people who survived the first round but didn't go through, I thought you might like to ask me to be your partner."

"Bit full of yourself ain't you?"

When she didn't answer I spoke up again. "What makes you think I wouldn't want somebody else?"

"Whisperer is a friend of Black road and may help him and his partner when you fight them instead of helping you, Overkill just walked away from you, which leaves me."

As much as I hated to admit it the girl was right, fuck I am stuck with her if I want a partner, it's not like I can bring somebody else in, only those who qualified can replace a lost partner. Perhaps I could convince Darkness to leave her partner and join me, bah, who am I kidding, I'd need to revel myself first and no way is that happening. She can see what I am thinking and just sits there patiently waiting for me to come to the only answer and that is that she is the only viable option. "Fine, you are on the team, but when it comes to choosing the rules or location, I pick them." I said standing up and heading for the door.

"Hey wait, I didn't say I wanted to join, I said I'm giving you the chance to ask." She called over to me.

"Be there early tomorrow." I called back before leaving the building and her behind.

I had decided to walk back to my hotel and have a long sleep before the fight. Yeah I know, the great general Reaper still cannot find a decent hotel, I swear when this tournament is over I'm going to burn the fucking place to the ground. Even after getting this far in the tournament the bastards are still charging me over the top prices. I wouldn't mind but it's not like I even get breakfast, not to mention the fact that several things of mine have gone missing from the room, I'd blame the cleaner but judging by the natural state of the room she must of quit a long time ago.

I was walking back to the hotel when I felt a presence behind me. It was keeping its distance trying to stay inconspicuous and it almost succeed, I had barely noticed it. I looked back but couldn't see anything. I could only think of a few people powerful enough to be able to almost hide their presence from me and not all of them were necromancers. I teleported away but when I reappeared so did the person stalking me. I turned down an alley and created several clones of myself which I sent off in different directions. I felt the person give up after seeing all of the clones and disappear. I then teleported to my hotel to be on the safe side.

Once there I created a barrier over the complex and if anybody teleports in or out it will notify me with as much info on the person as possible. Once I was satisfied with my precautions I laid down on my bed and fell asleep.

**

* * *

**

I decided to wake up early today as I thought now would be a good time to summon Aeris back from the dead. I was originally going to wait until after the Exorcists had attacked but there is the fact that I might need her in the fight, she with the possible exception of Sephiroth is the strongest servant to have ever lived. I sat on my bed with my legs crossed. Normally it would take three days to create a body before you recall a servant but since I didn't have three days I cheated and bought her back a different way.

I pulled out one of my daggers and cut off my left arm just below the elbow. The pain was intense but I ignored it as this was important. I dropped the dagger and with the hand I still had I picked up the arm and laid it down gently on the floor. A black aura appeared around me and my arm grew back.

The aura expanded sending the whole room into darkness as well as getting rid of all of the furniture. It looked like I was floating on pure darkness but in fact I could still feel the bed underneath me. A little red portal appeared out of the darkness releasing a red trail of energy before closing back up. The energy flew towards the arm and regenerated it a little. The portal opened and closed a few hundred times and each time the arm would grow until it was a full body.

The body was an exact replica of me. Once the body was complete the darkness disappeared and I was back in my hotel room. The body was alive on the floor but it was a vegetable. It was breathing, its heart was beating, even it eyes were open but still nothing and it would stay that way until I implant a soul into it.

I stayed where I was and closed my eyes. I could feel myself being pulled upwards into a rift I made in the ceiling. I floated upwards and just as I was about to hit the rift I stuck my hand in and pulled out a soul. It struggled to get back into the rift but I held on tight. I closed the rift and flew down to the floor where I then shoved the soul into the body.

I opened my eyes and the body began to change. The body shrunk in size and became slimmer. A pair of breasts appeared on its chest and the lower torso shifted until it became a perfect curve. The hair turn from ginger to a light auburn and grew in length, the eyes turned green and the skin tanned a bit. It blinked and then stood up looking at me. "Aeris." I said smiling. "You look as beautiful as the day I…"

SLAP

She slapped me across the face interrupting me while I was speaking. "What was that for?" my voice raised a bit.

"DON'T YOU DARE RAISE YOUR FUCKING VOICE AT ME!" She yelled. "HOW LONG DID IT TAKE YOU TO BRING ME BACK? I THOUGHT YOU HAD FORGOTTEN ME AND LEFT ME TO ROT DOWN THERE."

"I would never forget you but I needed to remain undercover and people know you are my partner, so your presence would've blown my cover. That and the fact I didn't think you would like to be stuck in a hotel room."

"Ah, so your actions went completely selfish." She said sarcastically.

"You need to feed." I said trying to change the subject.

She walked up to me and stuck her mouth to my neck. I gasped out in pain as she drew my blood. This is the first time it was truly painful. The problem with servants is that if you piss them off they can make feeding off you very painful, compared to that nice feeling you get if they are happy. She finished drinking and walked into the bathroom. I dropped to the floor before I managed to pull out a blood pill and swallow it. She drank a lot more then she needed to, but I guess it was her way of getting back at me.

"I've got a fight in an hour so I will see you back here after it." I called through the bathroom door.

She banged on the door in acknowledgement of what I said and I left. I took a slow walk to the arena to give me time to gain back the blood I had lost. By the time I reached the arena I was fit and ready to go. I managed to arrive just in time for the fight and met Mythos, Hex and her servant Weiss by the entrance to the fighting ground.

We walked out to a lot of cheering and a few boos and walked over to the judge.

From the other side Rainfire, Fate and Sephiroth walked out.

"Sanders, heads or tails?" he asked.

"Tails."

The coin landed head side up. "Team Rainfire, location or rules?" He asked them.

"Rules. No holy magic or attacks and if a servant is defeated then their master is out as well." Rainfire said.

The judge gave a nod and looked at me.

'Humph, Nice tactic, he has no servant and she has one that is even more powerful then herself and most Necromancers.' I thought.

"Earth, New York city." I said.

The judge nodded and the arena changed and we appeared in the middle of central park. "Begin." The judge yelled.

I phased out and appeared behind Rainfire. I slammed my fist into his lower back before I drew out my daggers and sliced the back of his neck. He turned around and shot a fire ball into my stomach and I went flying backwards. He phased out and I felt somebody kick me in the back of my head and I went falling back towards the ground. I hit the ground and the snow broke my fall. I stood up and flew back towards Rainfire. He pulled out a sword and we clashed in midair. We began sparring with each other blocking each attack that was thrown at us. In the end I got bored of this and as he attacked I put some ice energy into my foot and I spun to dodge the attack and kicked him in his side causing him to fly away.

I followed him but he spun around and launched a few dozen beams of darkness towards me. I tried to dodge them but wherever I went they followed. I flew down towards the ground before pulling up at the last minute. All of the beams hit the floor but they just shot straight back out of the snow and continued to follow me. I flew towards Rainfire and charged up an attack of my own. Once I was close enough I phased out and appeared about ten meters behind him. I shot off my attack and it hit just as his own attacks hit him. He was sandwiched between the two attacks but once the smoke had cleared I saw that the attacks had done no damage and that he had an energy shield around him.

**

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Hex' POV**

I created a fireball in my hand and dropped it to the floor. When it hit the floor it spread out forming a perfect circle around me. The edge of the circle was exactly a meter away from me. Once fate was inside the circle it erupted causing her to catch alight. She stopped and screamed out in pain before falling to the floor. I created a gust of wind in my palm and shot it towards her. The fire went out and she was being pushed back. She tried to stay on the floor but the wind was too strong and she went flying up. I phased out and appeared in the air above her. I created an icicle and as she approached I swung it and smashed it into her like a baseball bat. She went flying down and I shot off a few more icicles in her direction.

The icicles hit her as she hit the floor and she was pinned down by them. I was covered in a yellow aura and clouds covered the whole area. You could hear thunder in the distance and out of nowhere lightening came crashing down and hit me. The lightening began to spin around me building up power before shooting down towards Fate. Fate was still pinned to the floor when the lightening hit her and she screamed out in pain.

I created a wave of darkness and fired it at her. As it hit the ground I saw her phase out and shooting out of the clouds was Bahamut. (_The one from FF9_).

**

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Sanders/Reaper's POV**

The shield glistened around him and he had a smirk on his face. I flew towards him and just before I got there I phased out and appeared above him. I shot a meteor down towards him but it just hit his barrier and crumbled to pieces. He flew up to me and slammed his fist into my stomach. As his fist hit my stomach I felt a surge of electrical energy flow through me before I was blasted back.

I went fling up and Rainfire phased out and appearing around me were a dozen Rainfires. They attacked one after the other giving me no chance to breath. Each one came in and slashed me with their blade causing a different elemental strike each time. After the seventh strike I was able to create a shield and put it around me. I put a bit more energy into the shield and expanded it. It shot off in a dome shape and hit all of the Rainfires. All of them were injured but none were destroyed like I had hoped. I flew at one of the Rainfires and kicked him into a building. I did the same with a few more until they all came towards me at once. A bluish aura appeared around me and once some of them were in range I created a massive ball of ice around me. Icicles were sticking out of the ball in all directions. Some managed to avoid it but most of them were too close or moving too fast that they speared themselves into the sphere.

I could see blood pouring all over the sphere and thought it was a bit weird that they all seemed to bleed. I shattered the sphere and most of the Rainfires fell to the ground dead. The few surviving ones decided that it would be easier to attack me from a distance.

They fired off spell after spell and I dodged all of them. I flew down to the dockland area and landed in a warehouse. They all followed me in but by the time they had got there I had already hidden. They began to look for me and a dark blue aura grew around me. The ground started to shake and all light in the warehouse went out. There was a sound of water gushing and I jumped out just as the tidal wave hit. I just floated above the warehouse looking down at where the last of the Rainfires died.

**

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Mythos' POV**

Me and Sephiroth just circled each other. He had his sword drawn and I had my spear ready. He was watching me looking for a weakness while I was waiting for him to attack. After a while he launched himself at me and I phased out and sliced my spear across his back. He spun around and went to slice me but I moved out of the way and shot a beam of darkness at him. He dodged to the side and slashed his sword horizontally sending a wave of energy towards me. I ran forward and sliced through the wave before continuing on towards him.

We clashed weapons and it sent off and wave of energy which sent us flying back a few feet. We did this several time before he kicked me into a building. I went flying through it and when I came out the other side he was already there waiting for me. I was moving so fast that I didn't have time to react and he sliced my leg away from my body.

My legs went flying towards the floor and blood poured out of them creating new legs. I went to kick him and my legs stretched to almost two meters long before they connected with his jaw. He fired a wave of energy at me and I created a shield out of the blood and blocked the attack. It is hurt like hell but it almost halved the damage it would've caused. When the shield disappeared I could see him flying up into the sky. I swung my leg and shot it up towards Sephiroth. The blood flew up and I could feel myself getting weaker as more blood left my body. It wrapped round one of his legs and I pulled him back down. As he came back down towards me I swung my spear up ready to attack but he sliced right through my spear and cut my body in half.

**

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Sanders/Reaper's POV**

I looked down at the warehouse and saw Rainfire struggling to get up. Out of the corner of my eye I saw something shooting out of the sky. When I turned and looked I saw it was Bahamut. I flew off in its direction. Bahamut fired a mega flare at the ground. I flew down after the mega flare and landed next to Hex. I managed to erect a shield before the attack hit. The mega flare hit the shield and I felt myself getting weaker. The attack was strong but my shield held strong.

"Go after Rainfire, I'll take Fate and Bahamut." I said to Hex pointing towards the direction Rainfire was in.

She phased out and I turned to face Bahamut. He came swooping down towards me with his claws out. I shut my eyes and could feel his aura coming towards me. When he was about three meters away I opened my eyes and time froze all around me. My eyes were a pure black colour and my body began to convulse. My whole body became corrugated and uneven bits began to appear. First around my stomach area, then my chest, my arms and legs. Long curved horns appeared on my head and my nose turned into a snout like thing. Claws appeared on my fingers and toes, and I grew a massive tail almost three meters long. Long black bat like wings appeared on my back just below the shoulder blades; they grew to almost twenty meters longs from tip to tip. My body grew in size to almost ten times the size it would normally be. In the end I was about fifteen and a half meters from head to toe.

Time unfroze and Bahamut came towards me again. I grabbed hold of his claws with mine and begun to swing him about. I released him and he went flying up into the air. He tried to use his wings to steady himself but I released a fireball out of my mouth which collided with him sending him spinning even more. I flapped my wings and followed him up. As I got nearer he began to power up a mega flare. He released it when I was less then ten meters away but because I saw him power it up I was able to dodge it. It hit the ground completely destroying half of Manhattan.

I flew up behind him and clamped my jaw around his left wing joint. I pulled and snapped at it and after a few second it popped out of place and the bone was crushed. Bahamut fell down to the floor and landed in the ruined half of Manhattan. I powered up two ball of lightening in my hand and threw them down at Bahamut. As they hit the whole area was covered in darkness and it condensed around him in one massive gravity attack. When the attack was over I saw Bahamut lying on the ground with most of his bones broken and his body limp. At this point the summoner's would dismiss their summoned beast but for some reason Fate was being stubborn.

My wings glowed with a blue light and thousands of blue beams of energy shot out. They flew down towards Bahamut. I powered up and released a massive beam of red energy from my mouth and that flew down as well. The blue beams twirled around the massive red beam and they all hit together leaving a massive creator. When the smoke disappeared I saw that there was nothing left and I turned back into my human form and dropped down to the ground landing on my feet.

I phased out and appeared behind Mythos as he was cut in half. Sephiroth looked at me and smirked thinking I was out of the fight. I shook my head and the pool of blood surrounding Mythos began to move and a long pike flew out of it and stabbed Sephiroth in his left shoulder. I smirked at Sephiroth before pulling out my bow and sending an arrow between his eyes killing him. He didn't die right away; he had one last final attack before dying. He shot a beam of energy into the sky and meteors the size of football pitches rained down on the city completely levelling it. No structure survived. I managed to pull up a shield around Mythos and myself and we were safe from the onslaught.

Once the attack had stopped a horn blew over the whole city and Sephiroth and Fate disappeared. This left me, Mythos, Hex and Weiss Vs Rainfire.

I phased out as Mythos built himself back together and appeared next to Hex. Mythos and Weiss phased in a few seconds later. Rainfire was just standing there with his sword at his side. Mythos was the first to move; he ran over to Rainfire and began assaulting him with punches and kicks. Rainfire knocked him back and I jumped in with my daggers. I sliced him diagonally across his chest and carried on attacking him while pushing him up into the air. Weiss started to shoot at him while he was in the air and Hex created a small field of ice below. I did a summersault kick and sent him crashing into the ice.

The ice shattered and Rainfire phased out before he even got up and began attacking me in the air again. I sliced him loads of times in an omislash style attack and then roundhouse kicked him down to the floor again. I pulled out my bow and fired off several arrows pinning him to the floor. I then created a massive ball of darkness and threw it down towards him. It hit and then clapped my hands together and the ball compressed and squashed Rainfire.

He was still able to stand after the attack and began to run towards Hex. She waved her right hand in an arc in front of her and a wave of ice shot out gluing Rainfire to the floor. She then thrust her left hand forward causing thousands of sparks of lightening to come flying out. All of the sparks hit Rainfire. She then powered up his right hand and shoved it into the ground; the whole area around Rainfire exploded showering him with ice and rock.

Me and Weiss appeared on opposite sides of Rainfire. We both cast a haste spell and ran towards Rainfire slicing him, running away, then running back in. We did this almost a hundred time. Mythos then created a huge ball of energy in his hand and fired it at Rainfire. The beam hit and he was now barely standing.

We all circled him and created a ball of elemental power in each hand. Overall we had seven of the eight elements_ (holy power is not allowed in this fight!)_. We slammed our fists into Rainfire at the same time and he exploded in an explosion of all the elements. His body fell limp to the floor and the horn blew signalling the end of the fight.

**

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**

"_Are the troops ready?" Some woman in a red blossom kimono asked me._

"_Almost ma'am, the ground troops are ready to go but the riders are proving difficult to rally."_

_She walked up to me until she was right in my face. "Tell them that if they hesitate any longer then they will have to deal with me, do you understand Trogar?"_

"_Yes Breka ma'am, of course." I said like I was shitting my pants._

_I ran out of the room and down several corridors until I came to a large hanger. In this hanger there were almost 40 atomos class troop transport ships as well as several dozen dragons with harnesses on their backs. I looked out of the hanger to see we were high above the Phon coast. I walked up to the riders standing next to their dragons. "Orders from Breka." I called out which managed to shut them up right away. "You are all to be ready for deployment right away. If anybody is running slow then Breka will deal with them personally."_

_With that said all of the dragon riders were getting onto the back of their beasts. I followed suit and got onto my blue dragon. I could hear his voice in my head telling me what to do and what not to do whilst in the air. Once he had finished explaining Breka walked into the hanger and made a bee line for the podium at the back. She did a bit of magic and amplified her voice. "Today we will go and strike at a plague that has damaged Ivalice for a long time, they have no idea we are coming and are too busy killing each other for sport to be able to put up an effective defence. This battle will be an easy win, but it will be one that leads us on our way towards finishing this war once and for all. The Necromancer are weakened and with the power of the dragons beside us we will not fail. We will strike them down and remove them from Ivalice. They thought the war ended a couple of years back but they were wrong. Today is our day and one that will be remembered for a long time as a glorious day. Good luck to you all, and should you die, do not go alone." She said her piece and walked off the stage and back down a corridor towards her room._

* * *

I shot up covered in sweat. So they are ready, the time has finally come to do what I was sent here to do. I got up and had a quick shower. Once that was done I walked over to Aeris and woke her up. "It is going to happen today, be prepared. I will be at the arena, be ready for when I summon you." I said to her.

"Good luck and be careful." She said before giving me a soft kiss.

I walked out of the hotel and saw the entire town was in the middle of a sandstorm. The barrier was protecting the town from the storm but it will be extremely weakened. The only positive thing I can think of is that with this storm blowing it will be even more difficult for the Exorcists to teleport into town. That and the fact that it would be suicide to cross the desert in this weather.

I got to the arena without any problems, this was the semi-final match everybody has been looking forward to so actually getting into the arena would've been a problem if I hadn't of been a combatant. I went to the backstage cafeteria and ordered myself a drink before joining the crowd and going into the arena. It took me almost twenty minute to walk three hundred meters to my seat at the front.

I looked up and saw that the sandstorm was still blowing strong, it will mean that if they do attack today that I will not get any warning until they pierce the barrier, and if they do it right above the arena then I get a whole five seconds warning before they are in range to attack.

I look back down and see Darkness and Black road walk out ready for their fight. Icarax and Mille walk out from the other end and met them in the middle. As the judge approaches them I sit back ready for a good match. The Exorcists will attack at some point but until then I will enjoy this match and keep a close eye on Darkness.


	34. Seizure of power

**Seizure of power**

* * *

I smile as I head to the door connecting my bedroom to the main shared area of our room, I have a complete selection of weaknesses to exploit during my battle with Icarax today, a great many more than I had dared to hope the swordsman may possess. If I neutralise his partner then he is currently not strong enough to hold the energy he needs for his huge reality crushing spell on his own, if I take his sword from him he is incapable of blood magic at all ... although I may have to be careful of that, his desire to beat me may outweigh his desire not to become the beast he regresses to when he uses blood magic without it.

Actually eliminating the servant Rydia seems to be the best option, rather than create a specialisation between himself and his servant the way Irvine and I have Icarax seems to have gone the other way and learned abilities so that he and his servants each cover the other's weaknesses. He is very weak in spirit magic and relies on Rydia for his spirit support spells, if I can remove her then the meidou becomes a moot point for the rest of the battle and he is severely weakened. Of course I realise that I cant just knock her out, we all saw during his match against the blizzard of blood spells that he can quite easily take the energy from her if she is just unconscious, I need to put her energy completely beyond his reach. Still she is definitely far from the most powerful of servants and once she goes down I will have the advantage of a whole branch of magic I specialise in and he can barely use.

Frankly it's all I can do not to hum a tune as I leave the room. I just have to get Road and Lulu, as well as both of my servants, to stay out of sight so that she cant recognise them and report her blunder to her master. After all I want this surprise to be surprising.

Then my breath stops in my throat. In the next room I see first Irvine, he sits in a chair, completely motionless as though sleeping. But what stops my breathing is not that, in the chair facing him, staring back at me with flat, dead eyes is another person.

"Good of you to join us darkness, Irvine isn't really one for conversation right now and I was getting bored," Icarax's smile is chilling as he sits in the armchair opposite the one he has Irvine propped up in. A second glance reveals that Irvine is unconscious rather than sleeping and there are flecks of blood and signs of bruising on his face, on the coffee table between hem is a small jar containing what I now recognise as a seal preventing Seven from taking physical form, "You can probably guess that I have come here to collect my servant."

"I am here master," Ilia's voice startles me, apparently she was not as exhausted as I thought, she enters the room and moves to her master's side.

"You have done well," for a moment I would have sworn that his expression shifted to one that seemed to say 'I'm sorry to have forced you to do that' but that cant be right, a closer inspection of his face shows no emotion at all, "As you may have guessed Darkness, your attempt to gain the advantage of information over me has been anticipated. While I must admit that your method seems to be more enjoyable than my own," he gestures offhandedly to Irvine's beaten form, "I am just as capable as you are of extracting information from another necromancer's servant. Unfortunately you have not anticipated that I would be raiding your minion's memories and haven't thought to use him to deliver misinformation to your enemy the way I have. I do hope you enjoy sifting through the information you gained trying to figure out what I want you to know and what is fact that I was not able to mask within Ilia's memories. Good day to you darkness, I shall see you at the arena this afternoon. Come Ilia."

"Yes master," and just like that they are gone, I'm too stunned to even think. I was too stunned to speak to him at all during that encounter.

_Oh fuck._

* * *

Ok, so now Road and I are facing Mille and Icarax in the middle of the arena. It's been four hours since I encountered him this morning and I've calmed down a little. He probably didn't really have a chance to implant false knowledge deeply enough in his servant's mind that I wouldn't notice it was fake. If he did it's probably that beast or demon or whatever he becomes when he uses blood magic without the sword, after all what better way to scare me off from attempting to disarm him? Then again it _has_ worked – after all I'm not willing to take a chance on it being a lie and then find out that it is in fact the truth.

As the hyped up introductions drag on and push the crowd into frenzy I am slowly regaining the calm I lost earlier today and dislodging the panic that stopped me from closely following Sanders' match, it doesn't matter now since I'm fairly sure that Reaper is back and that he has some connection to him. What bothers me _how _Reaper came back now, who resurrected him if not me? Hell if he was resurrected by a necromancer, proper resurrection and not the minor version we do to summon a servant, then there should have been a sacrifice of deifacted nethycite to bring him back, yet I haven't hear the huge uproar that would accompany the theft of the dawn, dusk or mid-light shards and as far as I know there isn't any other defacted nethycite in the world. Sure Archadia is practically swimming in the manufacted variety at the moment but necromancers have stolen some and tried to use it – after all, wouldn't true resurrection becoming that much more common practically change the world? – we all found that it was practically useless to us.

Wow ... I've actually calmed down enough to have my mind wander, sure that's great and all, but perhaps I should turn that to finding some advantages. I look into Icarax's face, he still wears the same mocking grin but rather than the bewildered shock I disgraced myself with this morning I smile back, I even cast a mocking wink his way. _There! Let _him_ worry over shadows for a while._

As the interminable hype building goes on Road and Mille meet each other's gaze impassively. As I watch them my thoughts finally begin to stabilise. It doesn't matter what he got from Irvine's mind he cannot overcome my anti-Jagd aura. I seriously doubt he can imitate it based on information he got from Irvine – who cant actually use the technique – but even if he has somehow got it down overnight, I know that my current skill with it is much greater than it was when I first created the spell. With the huge advantage of experience as far as the spell goes even if he can duplicate my aura any battle in Jagd is still a hugely overwhelming advantage to me and my allies. It grows clear now that Icarax's 'information and misinformation' speech this morning was not more than a bluff designed to throw me off during this battle. As the feeling of joyous superiority begins to surge through me it must show on my face because Icarax is looking less and less confident as the seconds tick toward the flipping of the coin that will signal the start of our manoeuvring against one another.

* * *

"Team Dark-Road, has won the toss, please choose – location or rules?"

As the Black robed adjudicator looks at me I cant help but let my smile turn feral with the heady feeling of my impending victory filling me completely, "Location – Cthol Mishrak, the city of endless night."

I raise my head and stare into Icarax's face mockingly as the judge silently confers with the illusion creating mages to find out if any of them have ever heard of the location I asked for. It is on another world and it acted as the home of a god for thousands of years, it also housed an artefact powerful enough to kill a god, the leaked power is tremendous and as far as I know it is the strongest Jagd in the known universe. If Icarax wants to take me on with a half arsed copy of my anti-Jagd aura then let him try, but he wont succeed in a place where the Jagd is that strong, even with my own mastery of the spell, a million times the practice he's had with it, I will only barely be able to overcome that Jagd.

"It is possible for us to emulate the terrain suggested. This battle will take place in Cthol Mishrak, one time home of the maimed god Torak and the orb 'Cthrag Yaska'," my victorious smile grows even wider and I meet Icarax's eyes. What I see shakes me to the core – Icarax is smiling too, "Team Millerax will define the rules,"

"Each team will nominate one member, the member will take part in the battle, a standard battle to death, unconsciousness or admission of defeat. The remaining team member and the both members' servants will remain outside the sub-dimension, they will have access to a blue crystal for the purpose of restoring spent energy and the competing member's servant shall act as a conduit so that the supporting members can cast supportive magics into the arena but not directly interfere with the fight,"

I don't get it, why is he smiling so much? To me those rules just sound like an excuse to kick out our servants and team mates so that we can fight one on one. I can see nothing in those rules that will give him an advantage in Jagd, nothing that will help him overcome my greater experience with the use of the aura. Even the crystals, he specified blue crystals, these only allow people who touch them to absorb magic more quickly, they don't have the Jagd calming effect that orange crystals have (which is why you cant teleport with them) so he cant even neutralise the effects of Jagd on him by having his servant touch it.

* * *

Reality shifted ever so slightly and then it was just the two of us. To our right the great tower of iron that had once housed the god and the divine relic was little more than a mound of damp rust now that the god's presence hadn't kept it immune to the damp for a few millennia. The feature that earned Cthol Mishrak the name 'city of endless night' is, in huge contrast, every bit as present now as it was when first put in place. As we face each other through a grim drizzle of rain the cloud bank overhead, placed there millennia ago by the maimed god to obscure the sun, remains in place, thick enough to completely obscure the natural light that may have been trying to filter down. Idly I wonder, is the sun shining above those clouds? They are too thick of course, day or night no hint of the sun's position leaks down to us.

The two of us face each other across a stretch of dirt, there is no grass here. There are no trees. Thousands upon thousands of years without sunlight have seen to that, now only the faintly glowing fungus adorns the sterile soil and stagnant water of the dead god's capitol. We are each standing atop a low hill facing each other across a slight dip in the uneven ground. I figure that since we are already at a decent distance from one another I should start off, after all I have the advantage of being a long range type.

Rather than create pistols from blood as I might have mere days ago before I lost my other hand I simply alter the nature of my 'hands' until the blood that makes them became gun barrels. With a high speed stutter the air between us rapidly filled with a veritable swarm of projectiles.

After trying to block the first head on Icarax was blown slightly off balance by the power of my bullets and stumbled slightly. Following that initial mistake however he learned the lesson and dodged about half, deflecting the rest at angles with his sword blade rather than trying to take them on directly again.

Actually I'm not doing him justice, it is slow but he is definitely advancing on me, each step takes several moments but even amidst the hail of my gunfire he is managing to creep closer and closer. My smile turns grim for a moment as I concentrate on my next bullet, "Firaga," my voice is a strained whisper. I hadn't realised just how much effort I am putting into the shower of bullets that is keeping the killer at bay.

_Fwip, fwip, ting, fwip, ting, fwip._ The steady rhythm of my bullets whistling through the air without touching anything interspersed with the odd one that needed to be directed away from the target went on for a moment longer. Then my enchanted bullet reached its destination and with a deafening detonation. For a long moment everything is silent as the flames die down. Then I can make out my enemy crouched behind a wall of black demon energy emitting from his sword, at best you could say I have slightly singed him. That is probably just wishful thinking though.

"Well then ... all warmed up?" with emotionless irony Icarax trots out the tired old axiom. Of course the fact that people have been saying that cheesy line for ages uncounted doesn't change the fact that our little exchange can only be called a warm up.

"_Haste_,"

For a moment confusion freezes me in place, although the words came from Icarax that was definitely Mille's voice. I curse my inattention moments later when Icarax with his greatly enhanced speed reaches me, fortunately Irvine's voice comes to me with an enhancement of its own, just before Icarax gets close enough to cut me down my lover's voice fills my veins with power and snaps me out of my daze, _"Cantus Bellax,"_

If Irvine had cast the fairly rudimentary physical enhancement spirit magic a moment earlier Icarax probably could still have hit me, as it is though he doesn't get a chance to adjust for my suddenly upped speed and I slip around him. Unfortunately the spirit magic is a general improvement to all physical abilities and as far as pure speed goes it is nothing compared to the haste spell which is dedicated to speed and speed only. Icarax was practically on top of me almost before I managed to turn back around.

Then I'm the one being forced to defend, only my defence is more desperate and I'm not able to advance at all through the shower of bullets. Finally a swipe finds it's way though and I am forced to teleport away.

... the backlash of my failed spell is hugely painful. Tears fill my eyes and I stagger a little while I try to understand just why I cant teleport. All the while the gleaming blade of Icarax's dread demon sword homes in on my chest. I could never get away from the blade at this range and right now I'm too stunned to really respond anyway. Ultimately Icarax's own rule allowing team mates to cast support magic saves me.

"_Nise tekkai,"_ Road's voice fills my ears and his 'false iron mass' coats my skin. The blow still knocks me off my feet and I stumble to one side but the barrier Road used to imitate tekkai before he learned the technique for real at least prevents me from being cut, apparently he and Lulu are casting co-operatively because her voice follows, _"Sorumane"_

Finally getting a hold of myself I find that I am several metres away from where I started and Icarax is looking at me with a mildly irritated expression on his face.

"So you've had a chance to figure it out then ... I had hoped to kill you in the instant you were made hesitant by the discovery. It would seem you have chosen your allies a little more carefully than I had hoped however. Still without your fearsome array of instant movement spells at your disposal you don't have a chance here, your surrender in front of this many witnesses will probably be even better for my reputation than just killing you. Of course I choose to present this offer only once, if you continue to fight me beyond this point I will kill you,"

Finally it hits me – he isn't going to try and duplicate my anti-jagd spell, he has already found a way to interfere with it. Now were on an equal footing and he may very well kill me by being a better killer than I am. I've been too focussed on him duplicating my spell and I haven't thought enough about anything else to have counter measures in place. Face it Ann, he's out planned you today. Sneaky bastard.

With a mental command to Irvine to channel me as much mana as he can rip out of the crystal I launch myself into a frenzy. I open up with a full dozen guns this time, six sprouting from each arm, and I cast a bevy of spells upon the bullets of each one. As the shower forces him to block the first bullet he cant dodge it busts into life with the storm like power of Jovis tempestus fulgulariens and he is forced back by the whirling funnel of wind and the huge column of electric light at it's centre.

The more he blocks the more he is forced to block as his stumble prevents him from dodging the next one. When it unleashes jovis maleus the blow isn't as mighty as the preceding spell but the virtue of this one is that it comes from an unexpected direction, rather than sending lightning out it attracts lightning to itself, so I imagine that the huge bolt coming in from above his left shoulder is going to come as something of a surprise to him. I don't get to find out though at the moment of impact another dozen or more bullets have their spells activated and my target is lost among a dazzling display of light.

When the smoke clears is see a huge wall, a bright wall of blood obstructing my spells from reaching their target. I am nearly stunned when I recognise the spell as Chisagiri no tate, _how can he make a wall that large with only his own blood?_ But I don't have time to be in shock. For barriers that are immune to physical damage we have spells to deal other types of damage on hand.

"Maleus maleficaruim," my smile was grim as the great black and red orb passed through the shield as though it weren't there, too bad I wouldn't get to see the look on my opponent's face when my spell took all of his stored magic power, converted it into heat and burned him to death.

A glimmer on my right set off alarm bells and some long hidden instinct sent me hurtling away from it. Just in time as I feel the blade trace a line of fiery pain on my cheek, then my whole world turns into that same red hot pain as a dozen or more swords of blood pin me to the rotten black soil of the dead god's former capitol. The rain lets up and I can make out the face of my enemy by the glow of the native fungus.

"That maleus spell is quite impressive, I think that if I'd stayed in the safety on the other side of my wall I might very well be dead right now. Still, it turns out that sneaking around to come at you from behind has paid off, hasn't it?" looking down at me Icarax is more than a little singed by my earlier onslaught, blood drips from his left hand and his sword is only lightly gripped in his right. Of course I'm pretty damn sure that with a dozen blades impaling me I must be a hell of a lot worse off, I certainly feel it, "You probably want to surrender at this point. Unfortunately I promised you earlier that I wouldn't offer again. Meidou."

For a moment I don't realise that his calm statement was actually the invocation of his highest spell, but when the point of black nothingness appears before my eyes and begins to expand I am launched headlong into panic. The blood forming my right arm whips around into place over my shoulder and forms a familiar shape.

After what seems a blinding eternity of agony my pain recedes, as is always the case with enduring intense pain it seemed to be a lot longer than it really was. When my vision swims back into focus I find my head is tilted to one side and quite limp, my breathing is shallow and a great deal of my blood is escaping my control and running over the gritty soil of this forgotten capitol, ahead of me I can make out the fading sphere of Icarax's attack, if nothing else this fact should tell me that my pain truly was only momentary, somehow I don't quite believe it. Between me and the circle of devastation Icarax stands, his torso ripples with the clenching of his muscles as his body attempts to leap about in paroxysms of joy at my defeat. Of course my rape of Ilia's memories tells me that his mind isn't feeling any of that and he probably cant understand why his body is reacting so.

About my enemy there is still an air of the victorious slayer though, even if he isn't really feeling it. I guess that means his great sphere crushed me to death along with the rest of reality in that area, pity.

_Wait, that cannot be. If he has killed me how am I viewing his reaction?_

After what seems to be an eternity, but surely cannot be that long since he is still staring with sterile satisfaction into the crater, it dawns on me that the differences in out 'interrogation methods' don't just lead to my way being more enjoyable. My way also uncovers every last bit. He only tortured Irvine and forced the information from him so _of course_ there are gaps in his data. Then again I also sneer in condescension at myself for note realising what my reflexes obviously knew all along – the mightiest of my teleportation spells, that requiring painful sacrifice upon the body of all those moved, does not defeat jadg by technique like my others but by sheer brute force, actually requiring that I deliberately deactivate my anti-jagd aura before it's use. Clearly Icarax was also missing that information.

By supreme effort of will I gather a drop of blood back under my full control. I don't have enough strength at the moment to form a gun to fire it so I cast the 37th blood art to propel it across the intervening distance. Despite the tremendous effort I put into forming and firing that bullet it is a mere sideshow to the huge amount of my remaining willpower that I deliver to the task of forming the spirit magic that enchants it.

As I fire my breath escapes my throat in a wheezy bubble, but I manage to incant the spell, "Ensis exsequens,"

Between the physics defying power of the spell and the force of blood magic I use to propel it my bullet somewhat resembles a laser beam (or at least an anime laser beam since it still moves slowly enough for me to see it passing between me and the target). Either I managed to incant louder than I thought or some other sixth sense warned Icarx of the danger because he manages to turn around and throw up another blood wall between him and his oncoming doom.

Not that it matters of course the whole point of ensis exsequens is that it wont be stopped by his stupid little shield and my bright beam passes through the barrier without the faintest of sounds, leaving only a tiny hole in its wake. Mere moments later the barrier looses cohesion and drops to the ground as a wave of bright red life fluid, behind that falling curtain I clearly make out my enemy. He stands completely still, his face locked in a rictus of shock as he holds out his arms to maintain a barrier that is no longer there.

I inspect him as closely as I can from my position lying on the black soil of the plain in this desolate city. _Damn,_ the hole in his body is located in one shoulder, not his heart or another killing point. Of course if he were any other type of warrior or magic user he would be dead from the side effects of the spell, of course a side effect of using blood magic is that the user becomes accustomed to operating with little or no blood in their body. Freezing his blood to -25 C would have been an instant death sentence for anyone else, even the mightiest exorcist (although hitting someone like that with this spell then becomes an issue :P), but to my enemy it is merely holding him in place. A necromancer of our level should easily be able to survive until he thaws out.

"Hahahaha," I cant help but laugh at myself, after all that superiority and then the nerve wracking panic that followed we still managed a stalemate, "well you emotionless bastard, look at what we've got ourselves into eh? Rest assured that if I regain enough energy to launch a second attack it _will_ take you through the brain this time, you cant move to evade while you're all frosty either. Of course if you thaw out before I recover enough to move we'll almost have to call it your win right? Hahahaha," with all my laughing I cant help but feel I might be getting just a tad hysterical, "race to the finish eh? Whoever moves last gets to die."

**

* * *

Explaining-ness**

Spells:

Cantus Bellax – 'song of battle', ... Gale as your homework for not having written any PoE lately you have to explain this to everyone in your next review. In detail. I'm talking like five thousand words here ... well not really.

Nise tekkai – 'false tekkai', one of the spells that road used to fake the rokushiki techniques before he learned to do them for real. Unlike the real tekkai this one isn't pure martial arts and because of its nature as a spell it can be cast on others. Good for one hit only.

Sorumane – 'imitation shaving', another spell Road used to fake the rokushiki. Also not pure martial arts this spell allows the user to shove an unresisting target a few metres in any direction. This isn't teleporting just forced high speed movement in one direction by a fixed distance.

Chisagiri no tate – 'bloodmist shield', creates a wall of the user's blood that is unbelievable hard to penetrate with physical attacks and spells, limited in size by the amount of blood in the user's body ... usually. When the user has a demon sword designed to power up blood magic and a telepathic link to a servant touching a save point this limit is not in place apparently.

Maleus maleficarium – 'witch hammer', that's what the church called the inquisition :P a spell like Ra tilt. It ignores physical bodies and attacks high concentrations of magical power from the astral plane, allowing it to go straight through physical barriers and strike directly.

Ensis exsequens – 'sword of the executioner', a spell that vaporises everything within it's area of effect. Can be cast as an actual sword as well, the creates a much smaller area of effect but it is in the shape of a blade that the user can sing around, you also saw that I can cast it in the shape of a bullet too. Passes straight through physical matter without resistance because it is vaporising the matter rather than trying to push against it like other spells, yet it cannot be stopped by pure magic barriers either as it's magic transmits through physical media and does not interact with other magical energies. This spell requires specialist defences to defend against it. Also to many people the word 'vaporise' implies that there will be a great amount of heat involved and usually there is, however that would make the spell blockable by physical barriers as they would eventually use up all the heat the spell has to work with. Instead the spell converts solid and liquid matter directly to the gas phase, leaving that matter to extract the energy necessary for that transformation from the surroundings. The net result is a drastic lowering of the temperature of the surroundings, which is more intense the more matter is converted and the lower energy state it was converted from. Ie: the freezing effect is much more intense in areas surrounding solids vaporised than it is surrounding areas where only liquid was vaporised. I should stop here shouldn't I? My science nerd organs are showing…

**AN:** yeah promised more Road and mille this chapter but the thing is ... the fight here went for too damn long. The next chapter will be by me too and it will actually cover the stuff that was _meant_ to happen in this chapter.

as ... well gale (and maybe other people?) will notice my first scene uses a lot more complicated language than the japanese version. this is because, get this, i speak english better thna japanese. funny that :P

gale you asked three questions, but i havent got the reviews page open so i cant remember what they were. the company thing is an idea (and yes it concerns fanfic :P) that kel came to me with. i cant tell you the name or what business the company deals with without it being ... well frankly a spoiler. :D

**Fukutaicho (fukushacho, pending) DoE out.**


	35. Superbeast

**Superbeast**

* * *

At first it seemed like a short wait before one of us could move and then end it all. Now that I think about it we must have been staring at each other for at least twenty minutes. After five minutes the space around us collapsed and the dreary and sodden landscape of the city of night was replaced by nothing.

I don't know what that means either. What possible reason could there be for the space simulation magic to break down? As I understand the spell that creates the false space we fight in isn't like the broadcast illusions that have been having trouble for the whole event, the space spell that we are fighting inside is actually part of the barrier around the town of Maldeera. A barrier that hasn't fallen in hundreds of years. The barrier works because it is really a few dozen portals to various dimensions laid one atop the other, you can walk into town because you walk through the portals, that is about a metre in real distance, anyone can walk a metre. It is extremely hard to teleport into the town because you have to travel the full length of every realm with your teleport magic and almost no one can translocate themself across forty eight universes in one go.

But the fact that the false realm containing the battleground has collapsed indicates that at least one of those portals has been broken down. I cant help but flash back to Reaper's note to me following my first victory. Could HOLY MOTHER really tear down the defensive curtain of the magic capitol of Ivalice?

Somewhere along the way I must have gotten too caught up in my wonderings because suddenly Icarax is upon me, his blade flashes down and I used the last functioning limb in my possession to kick the ground as hard as I can and roll over, barely avoiding the probably fatal strike.

For whole seconds Icarax and I face one another, breathing heavily. I'm just able to keep it together and hope to defend myself somehow while he leans heavily on his sword, gathering strength for another swing.

He rears back for a one handed strike, even a civilian child could take us down now. Exhaustion and injury take their respective tolls and Icarax staggers in place, struggling to halt his backward momentum now that he is in position to strike and then heaving mightily as he prepares to make another attempt on my life.

For my part I am no better, I lurch and stumble to my foot ever so gracelessly and barely manage to even fall forward convincingly.

But fall forward I do, before he can gather the strength to drive his blade forward I collapse onto him and he gives under my weight. The two of us lie there, gasping for air and only just able to stare balefully into each other's eyes. Icarax numbly rocks his head forward in a headbutt that really only serves to rock my own head to one side. With a final sucking and desperate breath I bite down on his shoulder a powerfully as I can. To my joy I draw blood.

With the taste of his blood on my tongue, litre upon litre of my own littering the sands about us and the arena in Maldeera strong in my mind I activate my most powerful personal spell.

Icarax screams in agony for a while as we pierce the wall between dimensions, but I forgive him, after all he is the one taking the pain I would normally face when using this spell so I know just how bad he has to be feeling when the wall into the dimension containing Ivalice shatters against his head and we barrel through.

* * *

Throughout the magic capitol Maldeera violence reigned, in the minutes since the beginning of hostilities several key locations had already fallen and panic and confusion ran rampant in the streets. Three of the city's four gates had fallen into the hands of the attacking force and the south gate looked like falling at any moment beachheads had been established at the east and north gates. The forces at the north and east, and the south when they managed to claim the territory, would form defences and hold the gates they had captured while the force pushing in from the west would forge toward the centre of town. If the defenders ever got organised enough to shift manpower from the other gates to the south then the offensive there would turn into a holding action and another gate force would begin to advance. Since they had already captured the facilities that provided the city with large scale communications co-ordinated resistance would not be a problem and the airborne units – both dragon riders and Walpurgis and Walachia class air armour – both provided excellent reconnaissance of the defender's movements and dropped behind defence lines for quick pinpoint strikes before pulling back with minimal losses.

General Tethys' grin was predatory, "Well Vadriss? Hah! It seems HOLY MOTHER only needs Iscariot to take this abomination of a city. Why don't you take your stinkingly arrogant elites and watch how a soldier fights a war. I'll admit your exorcists far outstrip our abilities in situations where small numbers are an advantage, but this is war, not an assassination or the hunt for a single demon lover, there is no place for your kind here,"

Tethys, the general placed in command of Iscariot for this operation, was a woman in her thirties, every inch of her body showed the scars of her struggle through life from field officer to member of the general staff. He scalp in particular held so many scars her hair was patchy and grew only in tufts so she simply kept it shaved. Vadriss, former tactical advisor to the high exorcist and currently commanding officer of HOLY MOTHER's exorcist unit, was resplendent in his shining armour, though his clothes hid easily as much scar tissue as his companion's his face was as yet unmarked and he could equally have been an old looking thirty year old or a young faced fifty. He looked with some disdain at his counterpart, as one of the few who cared not at all for the rivalry between HOLY MOTHER's regular army 'Iscariot' and her elite exorcists he naturally disliked anyone who allowed that petty rivalry to interfere with good tactics.

"All I ask is that you think on the wisdom of your strategy a little more carefully. If you were taking a normal city like this then you would be done by lunch time with minimal casualties as long as you kept communication lines among the enemy closed. But this isn't an ordinary city, this is a city where even the scullions wash their dishes with magic and airship pilots are less common than teleportation spells."

"I assure you Vadriss, I have taken care of magical communication as well …"

Vadriss cut in with a snarl, "I'm not talking about communications you ignorant fool! These people aren't civilians who will crumble and panic, but nor are they soldiers who become ineffective when cut off from organised command! Over half of those here are at least good enough at what they do to consider risking their life in competition to determine the best in the world, but NONE of them have any fixed 'commander-troop' formal relationship with any of the others. These people are the degenerate elite, many are as powerful individually as members of my unit but to a man they refuse to join us and fight for the light,"

"You exorcists may be a threat to a much larger army but if we took away the organisation then even those elites are but an uncoordinated mob!" the radio operators and tactical assistants and other members of Tethys' command staff began to back away from the pair nervously as the argument grew heated.

"Damn you! Each mage down there is not an isolated and uncoordinated unit! You had best start thinking of that city as a continent and each building a country. Every man woman and child in that city is like a ruler, they all have their own agendas and they may even at times be willing to kill each other off but they _will_ fight together against the common enemy. At the same time they don't need each other to function. With their own abilities and knowledge each has as much advantage as a normal army with its leaders and tacticians, as well as being worth dozens of your soldiers in terms of raw combat ability. Your tactic wont work because that city's military might is _not_ greater than the sum of its parts, isolated and alone our enemies are in all ways as strong as they would be united and able to communicate freely. I warn you for the last time – that is not an army, this is not a war and your enemies are individuals."

"… lieutenant Greylics, escort Thane Vadriss from the command centre, he is not to return until assistance from the exorcists is requested."

Vadriss' eyes narrowed, apparently the scarred bitch was aware of his title as well, something he had tried his hardest to leave behind by joining HOLY MOTHER. The unfortunate lieutenant mistook the reason for that flash of anger and flinched in the middle of the motion of gesturing the Thane toward the door, their eyes met and Greylics' brown eyes betrayed his fears. All in one glance Vadriss read the words flashing through the poor mid ranked officer's mind – _please don't kill me sir. The general wants you to go. I just have to follow orders. Please don't kill me._

With a sneer – both at the young officer's cowardice and the fact hat his commander could take a foolish rivalry so far. Even to the point of placing victory in jeopardy simply to ensure that the elites had no part in it – Vadriss began to walk to the door, "'Thane' is a thing of the past, I'm commander right now …" he walked a little further and placed his hand on the door knob before turning back one last time, "If you refuse our aid because we are the exorcists then you should at least move in the dragon units." And then he was gone, too quickly for her retort.

* * *

Aderyc was burnt and bleeding and terrified. He was only a young vampire, only barely strong enough to stay awake during the day and nowhere close to being able to stand in the sun the way some could, he was only here to see his sire take part on the blood magic contests. But now they were separated because he had insisted on watching the necromancers fight while his master rested for that night's match and he was doomed. Every time he dashed through a sunlit area he lost a bit more of his flesh, but at the same time he couldn't stay put, not with the three chasing him and their weapons loaded with holy magicite.

He clung to the ground in the shade of a building and shook in terror as the footsteps approached. But at the same time he couldn't bring himself to run to the building's doorway just yet his terror at being found had not yet outweighed the horror of having to spend yet more time in the light to get there.

Then a great bolt of holy energy was descending on him …_ too late eh? Looks like I wont be braving the next band of light to prolong my torment by a step or two …_ the great bolt seemed to take forever to reach him, as though the certainty of death – his second – settled in.

As a hissing chant reached his awareness he realised that in fact the bolt had stopped. He shook with confused terror as his saviour stepped forward, still chanting in that hissing grunt a Bangaa bishop came forward and wrestled with the bolt's original caster for control of the spell.

With a curse of rage a knight with the attacking mage began to advance, drawing his sword. The was barely a creak when the doors opened and the advancing knight clearly didn't notice, a pity for his comrade could in no way call out a warning while occupied with complex chants and the struggle to keep control of his spell. Metres in front of the occupied Bangaa the knight stopped his advance as with a grinding crunch a pair of spearheads burst from his chest. With startled horror on his face he tried to look down into his own mouth where blood was already welling free, much, much more of it was already leaking out of his chest and down his stomach inside his plate armour. With a shudder he fell limp on his face, dead before he hit the ground, as the two Bangaa templar, sent to guard the high bishop of Sporhom while he participated in the tournament, ripped their spears clear and turned to be ready for their next foe.

Finally the terror of the moment completely overwhelmed the young vampire and he succumbed to the red fear. In his blind, terrible fear of the sun and the holy magic and enemies on all sides Aderyc ran, his full vampiric strength unleashed by the releasing of his grasp on his mind.

Without his conscious mind interfering he was faster, he was out of the alley near instantly. Without his conscious mind interfering he was much stronger, the human mage all but evaporated as the vampire's hand passed sideways through his body. Without his conscious mind interfering he was only able to mindlessly flee the object of his terror without thought of consequence…

When one of the forces contending for the holy bolt was suddenly removed by the crazed vampire the other just as suddenly overbalanced and sent the bolt flying with great force. The vampire went down, almost totally returned to the dust from whence he came.

Gortyr, the high bishop of the Bangaa city of Sporhom, looked at the results of his actions. On one hand he _had_ been trying to save the vampire boy, but dark creatures _were_ mortal enemies of all holy creatures. Then again any one faction actually achieving the annihilation of its opposite as HOLY MOTHER was trying to do would bring ruin to all that was and ones aiming for _that_ were a greater enemy to all. Ultimately he shrugged off the boy's death, as much as ensuring that not all dark creatures were wiped out was a desirable end he really didn't care that one of his natural enemies was dead.

The templar, of course, betrayed no feeling. The Bangaa equivalent of the paladin had once in the past been required to nearly completely obliterate the priesthood it theoretically served when the balance between light and dark tipped too far one way some seven thousand years back. Ensuring HOLY MOTHER failed to achieve total victory in this battle was a much higher priority with regard to their holy vows even than protecting their charge was.

* * *

The bullets weren't working, none of the servants of darkness huddled defensively at the centre of the arena floor seemed to feel any danger from unenchanted ranged weapons. The two women not able to dodge crouched in the middle of the group and pooled energy for spells, around them stood three others – a brunette male (undead from his aura) who covered one third of the invisible circle around the casters by apparently shooting incoming bullets from the air, despite being outnumbered by Iscariot members shooting he apparently still found time to loose a few shots back, almost always killing. At the next section stood a woman (also undead) with hair of vibrant green, her own weapon must have been lost at some point because she now deflected bullets with axe-like bayonet blades snapped from fallen Iscariot members rifles. The final defender was unarmed and unarmoured (and also apparently part undead and part true living being), yet paradoxically it had the least trouble preventing bullets from entering the circle, bulking large the demonic figure plucked bullets from the air between thumb and forefinger or simply let them strike its torso, it didn't seem to matter.

When the captain called for cease fire one brave soul dashed forward wielding his long rifle as a halberd. The great hulking shape reached down one gargantuan hand, engulfing the suddenly terror struck soldier's arm entirely from his grip on the weapon to his elbow. One firm yank rendered the victim airborne and a similarly massive fist consumed the man's ankle. With an motion that was all the more horrible for all that it appeared effortless the creature moved the hands further apart and chunks of Iscariot's holy armour fell to the ground empty but gore spattered as their wearer came apart like a rope unwinding and then snapping under too much strain.

"Stop you fools! Pull back and hold them here until backup comes! Fredricks, call down a flier squad to aid us."

Fredericks was on the portable radio screaming almost before the command came but the officer was being ignored by his troops on all other counts. Men and women rushed forward to death or glory – or both – only to find that not one among them was equal to the task and that the 'glory' each of them would squeeze from this encounter with the hated enemy was not more than a death either gruesome at the hands of the monstrous strength of the giant or equally horrible in the casual efficiency of the two immortal servants.

With the fates of their comrades so horribly sealed many others hesitated at what they thought to be safe range from their quarry and suddenly the defenders were gone, the two summoners were unprotected. A few of the slower wits among the Iscariot unit were forced to strangle reflexive shouts of triumph as the realisation of what this implied dawned on them only _almost_ instantly. This small portion of the unit were slow to raise their defences and fell much too quickly for any of their deaths to be even noted in passing. Others, quicker of wit, immediately spun in place and tried to locate the enemies suddenly in their midst.

But there was no matching of mettles in as foolhardy an assault as this. From one point a sound came, something like a continuous explosion that, if slowed down sufficiently, would reveal a series of gunshots so close together they blurred into a single long tone. At the point the sound originated from stood a curious figure, it was the gunman servant, his long white coat flapping about him with a movement not visible to the weak soldiers pitted against him, his arms were as though not there, blurring out of existence at his shoulders and painting a picture of some burning snake shrouding his figure with the muzzle flashes.

Further along the ring the green haired immortal flickered in and out of view as she used her stolen weapons with a fluid motion that told watchers she was clearly well versed in the use of gunblade styled halberds. In fact this perception was deceptive and she had never wielded such before, instead she completely gave herself over to the instinctive understanding of battle in all its forms that is common to all immortal servants. Where she moved she was a flicker of green and black, where she paused a moment the silver flash of a blade coloured the air and everywhere hewn limbs fell and spattered the landscape with their gore.

The final foe, the giant possessing both the nature of both undead and living, was not moving in a blur as its comrades were. Considering this logically – along with the fact that it easily moved at the same speed as the other two mere moments before – the creature obviously considered the soldiers too minor a threat to waste energy on high speed manoeuvring. This feeling was proven correct when the great slit of its mouth opened and its terrible voice was released.

"**Negan** …" the giant's arms were no longer simply 'like' tree trunks, of a sudden they were exactly that, its hands becoming a massive knot of roots. Like a million lances the root tips quested out at blinding speed and in incredible numbers, each passing through several soldiers and each soldier being pierced hundreds of times. In an instant the attacking force was bound together in a great ring resembling the entwined twigs of a birds nest, the other two servants jumped back to their guard positions as the hulking monstrosity made a gesture with its roots that was curiously like the closing of a fist and the roots retracted, leaving the whole Iscariot unit to fall to pieces around them as though caught in a trap of collapsing piano wire.

With a sickening grin its voice once more bubbled forth, deep as any ocean, dark as any pit and openly mirthful at the deaths of the sum about its feet, the voice of hell sharing some cruel joke, "**Hah! The ragged they come, the ragged they kill,**"

With a chuckle of his own the male immortal replied, "Heh, do you think we should have given them time to 'pray so hard on bloody knees' as well?"

Mirthless the female immortal responded, "Fantastic, a musical reference. Can we stop this before someone finds a way to bring in 'down in the cool air I can see'?"

"**Aww come on Rydia – don't you know I'm the super beast?**"

"Road if you don't shut up I swear …"

Whatever the green haired one wanted to say was cut short as reality shattered to reveal the nothing underneath it just a short distance from the group and a pair of limp bodies came barrelling through. For an instant no one moved, but then – as the fragments of the shattered reality, looking for all the world like the shards of a broken window, flew up and reassembled themselves as though rewound – there was a great outcry and the darklings all moved forward at once.

"Master!"

"Mistress!"

"Darkness!"

"Icarax!"

Amid variations of these cries the immortal servants of the new arrivals ran forward, followed by the great hulking thing, the others stayed in place as the continued casting. Solemnly they carried their masters back to the protective formation just barely quickly enough to be in position for the next wave to enter the area.

From above with the screech of strained engines and the howling of anti infantry gatlins came a unit of four Walachia class fliers. As they closed to a useful range and the steady stream of fire got closer to being on target the first shot was fired in response.

The tall servant in the long coat slid back several metres under the recoil of his pulse ammunition but that was nothing to the effect of the great beam that struck the fighter closest to being on target. Amid a dazzling blaze only the smallest parts of the fighter came to the ground with dull plinking noises.

The gunman grit his teeth and worked in a frenzy to load his next cartridge, but the hulking creature had other ideas. With a sweep of its leg and a soft exhalation it dealt with the threat in its own way.

"**Rankyaku,**"

The great blue arc was near invisible as it sped away, nonetheless the three remaining fighters came apart in halves and shattered against the walls.

"**Dollar says we can fire 'em faster than your bullets too…**"

"Shut up Road. If my mistress was awake we'd fuse too and really rub your face in your inadequacy,"

"_Earth bellow me, submit to my will. Dug haut!_"

The two halted their amiable bickering to stare in shock in the direction of the voices. From each of the stadium entrances, a great forest of stone spikes was bursting from the ground and coming rapidly closer with each new point. The spikes would be easy enough to dodge but there was no way they could prevent them from interrupting the summoning. With a muttered curse the one called Road turned to pick up the summoners and evade the incoming wave of stone when a white gloved hand stopped him.

The hand grasping his wrist was covered by white fingerless gloves and the attached arm was clothed in a white sleeve, beyond that the appendage was extending from thin air. The fingertips revealed were greenish. Finally more of the arm was revealed as whatever it was came further onto the same side of reality, more and more of the white clothed torso was revealed until at last the face came into view. The face was that of a man in his early twenties and was smiling pleasantly. It was also of a greenish cast and had patches that seemed to be made of stone showing all across it, the hair that surmounted it gleamed as though made of steel wire.

"Please sir, don't interrupt her while I am partially summoned," Road relaxed his arm and stepped back but the young man looked at the incoming stone death with mild disinterest, "Oh, my a stone spiker," he seemed only mildly surprised and placed his hand on the surface of the arena floor, "_Gozu Vrow!"_

From the hand pressed to the dirt great wave of shadow spread in a circle, the fine layer sped away from the group passing under their feet to meet the incoming waves of stone needles. Where the two spells met they halted and no more spikes grew and no more shadow raced. Now the group and the newcomer stood at the centre of a twenty metre wide ring of smooth black ground, almost a clearing amidst the forest of stone.

"Now they will send in infantry," the steel haired one chuckled, as though this were a familiar tactic, "they do not think for an instant that dug haut could finish you. But the expect you to be separated among the spires, they think they can use that cover to get close. A pity the did not expect you to have a shaman …" after a moment's pause, probably to let as many as possible into the stone maze, he shifted his grip on the ground so that his finger tips were now sunk into the black soil and twisted, "_Valve howl!_"

With a sudden pop, not unlike the visual effect of a water clone bursting, the massed stone spikes became lava. Falling, as liquids do, to rest rather than standing as they were, the great lava flow collapsed in on itself with great cries of agony from the soldiers of Iscariot attempting to sneak through the obstruction to surprise their foes. Here and there a hand, piece of armour or rifle protruded from the surface a moment before it melted or burned away.

"**Phew. That's a damn good summon Mille. Where'd you find him?**"

"Heh, don't know what the world was called but I picked him up in some city called 'Sairag'. Not a bad deal, he's probably one of my better mage summons," the summoner, apparently deciding she had caught her breath sufficiently, turned and gestured imperiously to the panting human girl to get back to it and started a new summoning.

"**Heh, not very talka…**" the ground shook with the force of a new spell, not the weak crap a squad of soldier-mages could throw around but a real threat.

"_Rai kruz!_"

Almost instinctively the summoned man and the fused creature stood back to back and threw up their hands. The giant figure crossed fists in front of its chest and planted its feet, huge waves of power rippling to the ground from it. The other braced himself for impact and pointed both palms away from his body, projecting his strength straight ahead.

"**Tessan!**"

"Ballus wall!"

A great mass of roots exploded on one side and the air turned to a pearlescent sheet on the other, the two joining to form a full dome around the group in all directions. On the root side a series of dull detonations shook the dome for a moment and on the other great blasts of ball lightning could be seen striking the barrier of distorted air and dissipating along its surface.

For several seconds the assault continued as a constant rumble of impacts from the creature identified as 'Road's barrier and a moderately impressive light show from that of the summoned sorcerer. At last, however the assault withered in the face of their defence, as the barriers relaxed out of existence the whole group went alert and prepared for the next attack.

Suddenly it came, two flashes of brightest silver streaked toward the group, each heading to one of the two who created the barrier. Probably on the assumption that the others would have had a chance to at least gather their thoughts while the other two held the field in place.

With a terrible grin the heavy coating of the hulking creature's abdomen grew over the sword that had been thrust there and held it n place. Unfortunately the wielder was quick enough to let go and leap clear before his head could be removed, but that did not stop the massive smile from creasing that gargantuan face.

The summoned mage was not so fortunate, his stone skin shattered along his abdomen and a forearm buried in his organs, he had time only to look surprised as his body dissolved and he was cast back into his original realm.

* * *

"Damn you Vadriss! What is the meaning of this?" General Tethys was rapidly losing her composure. Minutes ago a dozen markers indicating _elite_ units had appeared on her terrain map in accordance to intelligence reports and suddenly several of the points of strongest defence simply collapsed and the forces in the city began to flow properly. At about that time Vadriss had returned to the command centre and now was holding a sword to her throat.

"General Tethys, the rivalry between Iscariot and Exorcist is intended purely to drive the members of both groups to strive harder on behalf of HOLY MOTHER in order it best one another. You have allowed the rivalry to become the end for which you fight rather than a tool to be used. The council has decreed that your actions are a dereliction of duty and you are to be removed from command. We cannot force Iscariot to remove you from control of your own forces nor demote you, but you will heretofore never have authority over a joint operation. Now peacefully leave the command centre, your place is no longer here."

As Tethys left the room with poor grace, but at least the good sense not to resist, Vadriss studied the map. Half of his advance unit was down already, a few simply failed to clear the designated strong points and went down, several were wounded and forced to quit the battlefield until medical attention could be given, but the pair dispatched to the point offering the most difficulty, the arena at the city centre, had simply gone to their deaths, another pair was moving in now, but already one was killed and the other forced to retreat.

Quietly Vadriss altered the orders concerning that area, two additional units of exorcists and a squad of Iscariot mages were to set up and prevent those holed up there from leaving until the dragon units got into the city. Orders issued Vadriss scanned the rest of the map, no across the rest of the city only about a third of all units deployed were now being defeated and only one in ten of those removed from the battle were fatalities. Everything but that arena and what appeared to be a single elite or small group heading toward it were collapsing as expected. This group of defenders in the arena and the strange mobile unit that simply seemed to devour any opposition it encountered _and _stiffenthe resolve of other defenders it passed for a short time were the reason Vadriss and a few of the higher ranked exorcists had insisted on the aid of the dragons for in the first place.

Idly he issued an order that the mobile unit be allowed to enter the arena and aid those there but also be delayed and prevented from leaving until the dragon units arrived.

Without those two strong resistances HOLY MOTHER could have taken the city alone. Technically they still could but those two strong groups would push casualties far too high for the operation to be considered successful. With the dragons those powerful foes might even be made into prisoners, and executing such as them publically would be such a blow to the morale of the darklings that HOLY MOTHER's final victory would be almost assured.

Vadriss smiled a grim smile as intelligence updates came in and the map was updated to show the first of their dragon allies entering the city.

* * *

Explains:

Negan – root bullet. A variation of shigan available to the Black Road when fused with Lulu, hands become unearthed tree stumps and the roots lance out in a massed shigan assault.

Dug haut – (aka stone spiker) shaman magic from the slayers series. Spikes come out of the ground, nuf said.

Gozu vrow – Also from the slayers. It is cast three times in the tv series (once vs copy rezo, once vs hellmaster phibrizzo and once vs almeis) and all three times the spell is cancelled by the enemy before we find out what the fuck it does. All we see of it is that a layer of shadow runs along the ground from the caster's hand (in all directions) until it dissipates cause someone has countered it and we don't get to see what it does. In this fic at least one of it's properties is to cancel other spells that travel along the ground. **UPDATE:** I rewatched the first series while writing – I gets cast on copy Rezo twice! And the second time it hits! But it's about half way along a chain of six spells and it's all mixed in so we never find out what it does anyway! There might be lightning. And they use it because goury suggests "killitwithspiritattacks!" so it probably deals non physical damage.

Valve howl – Spell that makes lava tornadoes, or perhaps waterspouts would be more accurate. Used once in the slayers (yeah the first summon is from the slayers and uses all his own spells) against the demon lord Shabranigdo, who giggles and proceeds to show the gang a _real_ lava spell.

Rai kruz – base level spell form the .hack games. The first word indicates element (Juk wood, ani dark, vak fire, rai lightning etc…) and the second word indicates what the hell the spell does with that element (don drop, rom tornado, kruz converge etc…)

Tessan – "Iron dome" a fused variation of Road's tekkai. He extends his 'roots' as in negan, although from his feet this time, a short distance underground and then has them burst up and form a dome before hardening them with tekkai.

Ballus wall – an air element barrier spell, works by causing spells to split and flow around the caster rather than hit.

**AN:** Well I spent ages trying to write this chapter. I had everything that happens here planned ages ago, before I posted my previous two chapters (not an exaggeration, ask munchin). For some reason I just couldn't get it out though. I asked munchin to help but he couldn't get me out of the funk, nor could shadow. I asked gale to but that was yesterday and I haven't found out what his advice was yet so he is disqualified anyway :P.

So yeah after all that staring soullessly at the screen and begging others to save me yesterday I turned up at a "meet Japanese exchange students and improve your language skills" type event and spent two hours talking to the hottest Japanese girl I've seen in person in a long time. I spent last night grinning stupidly and wondering if she swings my way and suddenly the chapter was done.

Of course no home internets + no uni today the chapter wont be posted until tomorrow so…

True story.

And you cant imagine how happy I am now.

Also despite what I said above – thanks go to Munchin, LSD and Gale for trying to help me out anyway.

A very smitten fukushachou DoE out.


	36. And then there was silence

**And then there was silence**

**

* * *

**

I sat there on the edge of my seat watching and waiting for either Darkness or Icarax to move and knew that if he moved first then she was dead. I needed her alive so she had to win this fight even if it meant me interfering. I built up a little of my power into my hand ready to do a quick but undetectable power transfer. As I was getting the transfer ready the field surrounding their fight collapsed and they disappeared. Everybody around me was looking around confused but I knew what had happened, one of Maldeera's barriers had fallen. I knew that HOLY MOTHER was coming but I didn't think that they had enough power to break a barrier of that magnitude.

I looked over at Soul and Switchblade and signalled to them to begin the plan. We all jumped down into the middle of the arena and put our hands together. One aura appeared around all three of us and begun expanding outwards covering everybody in the arena sapping a little of their power before becoming solid and shutting off the arena from the town. The entrances to the arena were blocked by portals which led anybody with any holy power out into the sandstorm.

Once we set up the standard defensive procedures we were taught during the war I turned to speak to the people in the arena. I did a quick bit of magic and amplified my voice. "People." I called. "People, quiet."

The whole crowd went quiet within a few seconds after that.

"The reason why the field allowing us to watch the fight has gone down is because one of Maldeera's many barriers has fallen. Let me explain, while we were watching the fight the Exorcists have attacked Maldeera in an attempt to destroy the Necromancers. My companions and I have put up a barrier around this arena to protect you all, but to do this we had to siphon a little energy from every one of you, I apologize for having had done that but trust me when I say it has saved your lives. Now while they cannot enter this arena there are still many magical beings outside of this barrier and I am requesting everybody's help in getting the injured, hell everybody back here."

I looked around and everybody was still sceptical about the whole thing.

"Now I will not hold it against you if you wish to stay here but please understand that my companions and I are going out to help the people of this city as the Exorcists will kill off everybody to get to us. If you do not come to help then I wish you all the best but understand that this barrier may not stand and this is most probably their main target. As I see it we have only minutes before they have a strong force around this arena and getting becomes a whole lot harder."

People began to murmur amongst themselves and I could see a few of them were ready to fight. Necromancers, witches, vampires, elemental mages, all sorts of magical being stood up drawing their weapons while heading for the exits. "I think we have an army." Soul said.

"Oh this is just the beginning." I replied.

**

* * *

**

On the outskirts of the city most of the buildings were on fire or already destroyed, standing outside one of these particular buildings was a man, he had long black hair with blue-green eyes, a tan complexion which is very weird for a Necromancer. He was wearing an open jacket with a hooded top underneath, blue denim shorts, low cut socks and a pair of black sneakers. He held a crossbow in his hands with the pouch for his bolts strapped to his left leg. His name is the dog of war.

Standing next to the dog of war was his servant, a woman who had long finger nails that looked a lot like claws, black eyes, white hair and bunny like ears on top of her head. She wore very revealing clothes; she had a pair of black hot pants, black bikini top, with black boats which came half way up her legs to just below her knees. She held a bow in one hand with a short sword strapped to her back. Her name is Fran.

The two of them were being cornered by HOLY MOTHER soldiers. The dog of war was releasing bolt after bolt from his crossbow while his companion fired arrows from her bow. They were building up a decent death count but were running out of ammo fast.

They only had a few bits of ammo left each when reinforcements came and they were seriously outnumbered. They fired off their remaining ammo and Fran drew out her sword while moving in front of her master. The soldiers ran forwards but as they got closer the ground started to shake and opened up underneath them swallowing them up before closing back up like nothing had happened.

"You need to be careful." Hex said walking out from the shadows of a building. "This city is not safe and you are not strong enough to help. Leave, run and hide, I don't really care, just get out of this city."

Hex walked back into the shadow and disappeared.

**

* * *

**

The arena had cleared very quickly; nobody was left in their seats. The only people in sight were Soul and Switchblade. "So, what is the plan general?" Switchblade asked me.

"We help fight back the Exorcists."

"Did you not come here to build an army?"

"No."

"Then why didn't you warn people of the attack and give them a chance to retreat?"

"Because we shouldn't have to run, without us three the Necromancers are not a large enough group to pose a threat. We have less then a tenth of the amount of Necro's we had during the war. I thought that if they thought that I was dead, and with you two in hiding and out of the picture that they would back down, but it seems let that isn't the case. They need to know that the Necromancers will not bow down and run from them. We don't want a war, we want to live in peace but it seems the only way we are going to get that is if they see that we will fight."

"But if we fight won't they see our true power and see that we ARE a threat to them?"

"It was a risk, but one that had to be made. I'm tired of running, I don't want to look over my shoulder in case I'm being followed, I don't want to fear meeting other Necro's because they would be in danger just for approaching me. It has to end, one way or another."

"It sounds like you are pushing for war."

The barrier around us started to crack before shattering like glass into hundreds of pieces. The pieces disappeared and soldiers dropped down out of airships into the arena and surrounding us.

"There is no way they were able to break the barrier." I said.

"What do you think?" Soul asked.

"They have power beyond the dragons helping them."

The soldiers closed in on us and were surprised to see that we were unfazed by their appearance. It confused them, they were used to people fearing them and here was a squadron of them surrounding three Necromancers who were hiding in a shield. They may have seemed confused but they were confident and it was that confidence that we played on. I drew out my duel daggers and Soul pulled out his sword while Switchblade got into his fighting position with his hand up to his face.

"So you think you can challenge us?" One of the enemies asked.

I gave a little grin. "Head to the exit, they cannot leave this arena while we can." I whispered to Soul and Switchblade so that only they could hear me. "NOW!"

We ran towards the enemy and began our assault. The first one I encountered got his head cut off; I then swung one of my daggers in front of me causing a red wave of energy to shot outwards hitting the three soldiers and causing them to fly back into five others. While all eight were on the floor I jumped over them and fired a beam of gravitational energy which crushed all their bones killing them. As I landed I thrust my daggers forward killing another soldier. A soldier to the side of me went to attack and our weapons struck each other with a force that sent us both flying backwards. I flew into a soldier that Soul had just killed.

I stood up and we went back to back killing anybody who came close to us. After several dozen of them had fallen to us and we had a pool of bodies at our feet they got the hint and started attacking us with spells and long range weapons.

I looked around while deflecting attacks and saw that Switchblade was making good progress. I jumped up into the air and slammed down into the ground causing a shockwave to knock everybody down. I ran towards the exit slicing away at Exorcist as they go up from my previous attack. As I past by Switchblade I grabbed him under his arm and pulled him to his feet and we ran side by side with Soul a few steps behind us. We cut them down with ease, like they were just bags of meat, we didn't see the people just the bodies. It was simple, we approached them and then we sliced them.

We were getting closer and closer to the exit with each person we killed. One of the soldiers tied to trip us up with a spell but our auras just cancelled out the attack. We were overpowering these soldiers; their power was tiny compared to us. Most of these soldiers were so weak that I suspect that they weren't even alive during the war. I looked into the eyes of one as I reached him and stuck my daggers into his neck and all I saw was a youthful fear. They were probably told that we were weak and that with the amount of soldiers that they had it'd be no problem. They sent these soldiers in with hardly any war experience or Intel.

The leaders of this army probably didn't realise that it was powerful war hardened soldiers in that shield and let their real soldiers go about taking the town. They were overconfident and unprepared for me; I will make sure that that was their fatal mistake.

We finally made it towards the exit and all three of us ran through the portal but when I came out the other side I found myself in the desert and my powers began to leave me and fast.

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A dark figure sat at the top of the highest tower looking down at the carnage and destruction below. She watched as an Exorcist was pulled apart by a ball of gravitational magic. _Where is he?_ She thought. She scanned to whole area ignoring the Necromancers in need. She had to find him, she needed to find him. She had seen Soul and Switchblade leave the arena but Reaper hadn't come out. While she was looking for him she saw Hex fighting off a few dozen Exorcists. She was holding her own but wouldn't be able to do it for long. Aeris jumped down from the tower and ran across the roof tops towards her.

Hex created a barrier of water in front of her and it crushed a few Exorcist to death when they past through it. She turned around a created a fire whip in her hand and slashed an Exorcist in the face causing his helm to fall off and melt away. She whipped away not letting any Exorcist past her. She had her back to the barrier and didn't see the Exorcist freeze it. An Exorcist blew the barrier apart causing ice fragments to shoot into Hex's back. She screamed out in pain and an Exorcist jump onto her back pinning her to the floor. Before he could do anything Aeris jumped down from the roof tops and using her staff as a baseball bat she wacked him on the head causing it to separate from his body and roll along the floor to the feet of the other Exorcists.

They looked down at the head while Aeris lifted Hex to her feet. Hex pulled a sword of Aeris' back and they stood back to back with the Exorcists surrounding them. "Well isn't this a surprise." One of the Exorcist's spoke up. "So you are alive? That must mean that he is too."

"Yes."

"So where is your master? We have unfinished business."

"Sorry, he is busy at the moment, so it looks like you're stuck with me."

"Well once I've killed you I'm sure he'll come looking for me to get revenge."

The Exorcist ran forward while the others stood back. Aeris didn't move, she just stood there with her eyes closed and smiling. The Exorcist closed the gap within seconds and just as he was going to cut Aeris' head off she opened her eyes and he froze. In his eyes you could see that he was shocked. Some of the other Exorcists seeing this got brave and ran towards her with their weapons out but they were too far away to save him. Four ball of black energy built up at Aeris' feet before circling her body and floating over to the Exorcist and breaking off into forty different pieces. The pieces surrounded him and created a sort of shield which then collapsed on itself squashing his body and killing him. The forty orbs then flew off and hit every Exorcist running towards Aeris.

A black aura appeared around Hex and her features disappeared, all you could see was the darkness. The sky glowed with a faint orange colour before fire swept over the town covering the sky just below the remaining barriers. The darkness around Hex then disappeared as the fire shot down and swirled around her.

The Exorcists became worried and started to back off, they could feel the immense power coming out of Hex and knew that she was a mage to fear. These Exorcists were mostly new but some of them were soldiers back in the war and even they feared her. She looked at them with her pure black eyes and held up her hand causing the fire to shoot away from her and engulf the Exorcists in fire. They screamed out in pain, some tried water or healing spells but nothing work, nothing stopped the fire from peeling away their skin and burning their bodies into ash.

Once all of the Exorcists were dead Hex turned back to her normal self and she and Aeris walked away searching for more Exorcists to eliminate.

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**A/N: Well that is my first chapter complete, as I have three different groups now I'm thinking of doing a chapter for each group and join them together at the end of it. Anyway the next chapter should be up in a week or so.**

**Munchin.**


	37. Far away

**GAR rage! still no titles!  
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It had been hours since I had started my time-consuming journey back to Maldeera. I knew that those portals would take anyone with holy powers to a random point in this desert; I also knew that I was far enough away from Maldeera to make this journey arduous but I did not care. All the people I called friends were in that town fighting and I knew that they would need me. My magic was almost non-existent at this point and the sandstorm around the town was still not in sight, I knew I was going to die out here on my own, an honourless death while people who I left unprepared were fighting off Exorcists.

My long black cloak kept tripping me up so I ditched it long ago and the heat from the sun was burning my pale skin. I could feel myself getting more tired as my magic failed and dehydration began to kick in, yet I could not give in; Aeris, Mythos, Soul, Switchblade and Darkness all were fighting for survival, I could not fail them, I will not fail them.

I fell to my knees and pain shot through my hands as they hit the hot sand in a feeble attempt to stop me falling face first onto the ground. I lifted them off the ground savouring the pain which let me know I was still alive. I looked at my already pink hands to see that the palms had gone an even brighter pink even though the contact with the sand was minimal. I shook the pain off and tried to stand again but failed to gain any balance and fell back onto my knees. I realised that walking was now out of the question so I began to crawl while ignoring the searing pain in my hands. I managed about twenty places before my vision began to blur and spin and it was then that I knew it was finally over for me. The last thing I saw was a flicker of darkness on the ground in front of me before my vision completely gave way and I fell unconscious.

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Aeris had barely taken three steps before more Exorcists and Iscariot soldiers appeared around several corners and began to advance on them. Aeris, Soul, Switchblade and Hex all stood in a circle with their backs facing each other. It didn't take long for them to be surrounded but even with HOLY MOTHER all around them no one attacked; both sides just stood there looking at each other until a lone figure stepped forward.

"I see, so the rumours of Reaper still being alive are true; and what's this, his servant teaming up with the two other survivors of the war and some random necromage. It is truly a shame that general Reaper isn't here, it would've been a great honour to cleanse the world of his soul, but I guess you will have to do. You understand why I will not even offer you the chance to surrender." The Exorcist who stepped forward said.

"HA!" A red robed figure said as he appeared out of thin air. "Cleanse the world. Does your hubris blind you that far?"

"Who are you?"

"I am Alomar, a cleric of Gilean."

"Gilean...then why do you interfere, the Esper's of neutrality do not get involved with our wars?"

"Ah, but they do. If something threatens the balance of all things on the planet then we clerics are ordered to step in and in this case, restore the balance of power between light and darkness. Neither can live without the other, so neither shall be allowed to triumph over the other."

"Our God and faith our stronger then yours, so why do you stand in our way cleric?"

"Because you are making the same mistake as the kingpreist of old, you are killing countless creatures and people in order to increase you own power, thus disturbing the balance of this planet."

"It does not matter; we will bring down the sword of justice on all those that stand in the way of the cleansing and our Esper's wish."

"While I am not one to disregard the power of any Esper, you must understand that Gilean's power is on par with Paladine and the dark queen Takhisis; he is one of the three most powerful Espers in existence, so bring forth the power of your Esper because you cannot stand up to me."

"Kiri-Jolith may not be the most powerful Esper but his power is pure, and that sort of power cannot be beaten by darkness."

"So be it."

The cleric lowered his head while grabbing a chain with a pendant of a golden book on it from around his neck holding it high. "Gilean, the book, the sage, the great voyager, holder of Tobril and leader of the Gods of balance. Look down upon your servant in his hour of need and grant him power so that he can restore balance and bring about the mending of the world."

A bright light emanated from the pendant dissolving the whole street in a blanket of white light. No one other then the cleric could see a thing. The cleric saw the necromancers blocking their eyes and turning away from him. He looked over at the Exorcists and Iscariot soldiers and saw that they were doing the same but their attempts to block out the light were in vain as the light surrounded them slipped past their fingers and eyelids and settled in their eyes causing them all to go blind and forever only able to see the celestial light of the great God Gilean.

The light died down and the cleric turned towards the necromancers. "You may want to act now, they are blind but it will not be long before they find other ways of seeing you."

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The darkness faded to be replaced with a calm blue light that emanated from all around me. I looked around to see I was standing on a clear flat surface high above the clouds being held up by one pillar in the centre. "Well, this looks familiar." I said to myself.

"_Reaper, because of an oversight on your part we must intervene to help you._" One of the Occuria said.

"Do not sound so annoyed Gerun, this war will encumber all and your part is still not finished. You knew that when you chose to help me." I replied back.

"_Yes we know and while we are not happy, we have sent aid for you. The dragonriders of Resourna are coming to assist you."_

"Resourna..."

"_Yes, it is a continent west of Nabreus and north of Raithwall's tomb._"

"Yes, I know where it is, I've been there before. What I don't understand is why are they helping, they dislike strangers and care not for the outside world."

"_They are indebted to Soul, and when we told them about your war and how you are losing, or rather the side Soul is fighting for is losing, they offered to help._"

"Yes, I heard that the only thing they hate more than a stranger is an unpaid debt. Very well, but I do not trust them, once that dept has been repaid they will just up and leave, and they will decide for themselves when that dept is repaid."

"_Have faith in them, you need the help."_

"Once again I thank you for your assistance Gerun."

"_Now go._"

The platform disappeared and before I could respond I was falling through the clouds. As I passed the clouds the environment around me darkened to the point where I could not even see my hand when I put it in front of my face. The feeling of falling slowly stopped and it felt like I was lying on solid ground. My eyelids felt heavy so I closed my eyes and when I reopened them I could see the sun shining down onto my face.

The light was too bright and I had to close my eyes slightly. Once my eyes were adjusted to the light I realised that I was lying down in the desert. But although I was still in the desert I didn't feel weak or dehydrated. I felt great, I could feel all my power flowing through me and my strength had returned. I sat up and almost fell back down at the sight in front of me. There were scores of dragons of all around me. I was surrounded by dragons of all colours and sizes. There were bronze, blue, green and golden dragons; some as small as three feet but the majority were over thirty feet long and had people in gold and white armour sitting atop them.

One of the dragonriders got off her dragon and approached me. She removed her helm to reveal a beautifully crafted face which held a pair of bright green eyes and a thin lipped mouth. Her blond hair fell to slightly cover her face when she removed her helm and she held her hand down to me. I took her hand and let her pull me to my feet. "I am Leila, leader of the dragonriders of Resourna. The undying appealed to us to aid Soul and his allies." Leila said.

"I know, I've just spoken to them and I thank you for the help, and for whatever you did to return me to strength."

"I did nothing, it is the dragons. Their magical aura dispels the effects of the Jagd."

At that I raised an eyebrow while Leila signalled to someone and a golden dragon stepped forward. "This is Kzuth, she will be your dragon in our flight to Maldeera."

"_Hello Reaper."_

"Hello Kzuth." I said while walking over to her and stroking her long neck.

"_I am surprised you knew right away, I usually have to tell outsiders it is I who is talking."_

"I have met dragons before, the sand dragons of the Ogir Yensa Sandsea are rather fond of me and I have many friends among them."

"_May I link with your mind to make the flight and battle we are about to enter that bit more easy for us? This way we will think as one and will not need to waste time communicating with each other."_

"I didn't know you could do that but yes, you may. This will be an interesting experience" I said while stepping onto her outstretched hand in a bid to aid me into position on her back.

Once I was comfortably in position Kzuth spread her wings and took off. Once all the dragons were clear of the ground they all started to disappear and when it was Kzuth's turn she blinked out of existence and into a cold black void.

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Aeris wasted no time once the cleric had spoken and begun attacking the Iscariot soldiers. While she barely had the power to kill Exorcists she knew the battle was far from over and she'd need her strength so she left them for Soul and Switchblade. She ran forward creating two swords out of blood and begun slicing the soldiers apart. Seeing Aeris attacking the soldiers the three necromancers sprung into action.

Soul and Switchblade drew their weapons and charged towards the Exorcists. Hex seeing that there were not many Exorcists among the surrounding army decided to concentrate on the Iscariot soldiers. A red glyph appeared under Hex as she began saying an incantation in a language unknown to the others around her. Green fire began to appear out of the glyph and flew around her in three circles. Once she had finished the incantation she held out her right hand and some of the fire from the bottom ring left the circle and floated in her palm. She threw it at one of the soldiers and he burst into flames causing him to scream out in pain and flail around. He bumped into the soldiers standing next to him causing them to set alight. Hex began taking more and more fireballs out of the rings of fire and scattering them throughout the soldiers.

More soldiers entered the battle every second and while Hex was able to keep them at bay she knew it was only a matter of time before her mana ran low and the soldiers would be able to advance on her position. Hex thinking fast called upon her magic again as she rose the earth on three sides blocking soldiers from advancing from those directions but leaving her and her companion's only one way of retreat.

Some of the soldiers that were still able to see saw the blocked off paths and attacked more ferociously. Hex said a few words and the soldiers stopped in their tracks before screaming out in pain as water poured out of every pore on their bodies eventually leaving them as a small died up shell. One well place gravity spell caused these shells to shatter and the soldiers that she hadn't drained saw the power she had at her disposal and began to lose their courage and back off.

Not wanting the soldiers to retreat and regroup Soul closed in eyes and began a small chant before slamming his fists into the ground. The soldiers were shocked by this but after nothing happened for a few seconds they laughed and began approaching him. Soul opened his eyes and the Iscariot soldiers saw an evil in those blood red eyes that froze their bones. Before they could compose themselves great beasts of rock climbed out of the ground and walls grabbing hold of the soldiers and retreating backing into the ground. When they rose again they appeared without the soldiers they had taken. This happened a few times and the odd soldier managed a few feeble attempts at an attack but his weapon just bounced off the stone skin of these creatures.

Once the soldiers were taken care of the stone creatures formed a group in front of Soul and began to change shape. They took on the forms of the soldiers that they had just killed before turning around and marching off into the battle. "What were they?" Hex asked.

"They are Ghilan, desert-dwelling djinn." Soul replied and at the confused look on Hex's face added. "They are shape shifting demons which can take on the appearance of anything that they have eaten."

"Eaten?"

"Yeah, just feel lucky they took them underground before eating them this time."

After saying that Soul walked forward and followed in the track of the Ghilan. When Hex realised he was getting no more information on those creatures him and the others followed Soul out of the dead end he had created.

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**A/N: Gale had asked for a little run down on the characters that have survived just before Ether and I stopped writing a while back, and since it has been a while since we've written this story, I've decided to do a quick run down of the characters that will play a leading role in my chapters...Ether can do the same with those in her chapters if she wishes.**

**Also a few of the characters have changed over the story and are not like how they were in the original bios.**

**Reaper: Creator – Me. Class A necromancer. Slave: Aeris.**

**He is the main character of this story. He used to work for HOLY MOTHER but he stopped once they broke the contractual agreement so they killed his apprentice. He decided to get revenge after that and went to the king of the dead tournament to rebuild the necro army. During a fight with the leader of the Exorcists, he absorbed the Exorcists soul and as a result can now use holy magic. He has killed more Exorcists then any other necromancer, even able to kill more then one at a time, earning him the title of the strongest necromancer, while he doesn't believe he is the strongest he does use it to his advantage.**

**Soul and Switchblade: Creator – Me. Class A necromancers. Slaves: Unknown.**

**Not much is known about them except Reaper was their boss during the last war and they are still willing to follow him. Soul is also a master summoner and is able to summon armies to do his bidding.**

**Mythos: Creator – Lecter R. Purgatory. Class C necromancer. Slave: Paine.**

**Mythos is Reapers bitch (joking), he was Reapers partner for the first round of the tournament until he died. Reaper brought him back as a servant and has yet to return him to an actual body. He is not too good with magic but is good at close combat fighting.**

**Hex: Creator – Demi. Class B necromancer. Slave: Weiss.**

**Hex is unrivalled in the area of magic. While not perfect in the area of blood magic she surpasses everyone else in the use of elemental magic. Not too good at close combat fighting and requires others to protect her while she does her long incantations for her most powerful spells. Relies on her slave a lot for cover and protection.**

**Millie: Creator – Berry. Class A necromancer. Slave: Cloud.**

**Millie is a master at summoning even to the point of being able to summon the Gods and bring them to her through other dimensions and realities. While Soul summons armies, Millie excels in summoning singular beings...usually of great power. The concentration required for her to summon is intense and it leaves her vulnerable to attack, thus causing her to rely on others, mainly her servant, to protect her.**

**Leila: Creator – Me. Dragonrider. Dragon: Tsarath (male).**

**Leila is the dragon highlord of Resourna and leader of the dragonriders. Skilled warrior and can match anyone in a fight on the ground or in the air. Not much is known about her.**


End file.
